Slaves of Purpose
by TheLibrandy
Summary: L is dead. Near has failed. Kira's power is on the rise. But what about Mello? With the help of Matt and a team of eager young minds, can Mello surpass those who have tried before him and defeat God himself? Alternate Universe. Yaoi. MxM
1. Fallen Force

A/N: Alright, hi there. This is a role play me and my friend Dukki-chan are working on at the moment. This is MY first submission to the Death Note fandom, but not hers so I hope it turns out ok. It IS going to be mainly a MelloxMatt story, but there will be a few twists thrown in here and there. I really hope you guys can give me some good feedback on this, it would be deeply appreciated. I hope you all enjoy it. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note; the only thing I own is my three characters in here(JJ, Mika, and Kai) and Dukki owns her own characters(Iggy, Icarus and Pip).

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Chapter One-- Fallen Force

It was 2009; Kira was beginning to enjoy his uncontested reign as God of the New World. L was dead, cold in the ground, dust, nothing, which left only his heirs behind him in his wake. The SPK had sprouted soon after the death of the great detective back in 2004, but not even the superior brain of Near could stay afloat for long in the sea of godly might that quickly flooded the earth.

That left Mello. Just Mello. It was now his job to take up L's torch and defeat the evil that had swallowed world whole.

The blonde in question was at the moment leaning against the railing of a church's bell tower. The church--one of the old style Catholic churches--had been serving as the anti-Kira force's hideout for nearly a year now, and it had yet to fail them. Mello trusted in the seclusion and stone walls to protect him and his team.

Mello pulled a chocolate bar from his pocket and snapped off a sizable chunk. The sugary treat melted over his tongue, providing some sort of pillow for his over-stressed mind to fall back on.

To interrupt Mello's reverie, a young girl with short dark hair stepped out onto the bell tower. "Mello?" she said. "There's someone here to see you."

Mello waved a hand. "Let them in, please, Pip."

The girl moved away from the door. The first thing to enter the room was not even a person, it was smoke. The man behind the smoke was someone Mello hadn't seen in quite a while. It was Matt; Wammy's House number 3.

The redhead walked out onto the bell tower without even looking up from the PSP in his hands. His finger, deciding that it was time to pay attention to the real world now, flicked across the console and hit pause.  
He looked up and gave the blonde a cocky smile.  
"Hey."

Mello's face moved from confusion to wide-eyed owlish surprise in a matter of moments. Hell, if he had been more of a cliche, his chocolate bar would have slipped from his fingers and landed in the puddle of rainwater at his feet. "M-Matt?"

The redhead took a drag on his cigarette and blew a smoke ring out above his head.  
"Been a while, huh?" He smiled and moved closer to Mello. "You have no idea how big a pain it was to track you down."

Mello crossed his arms for a moment, giving Matt a once-over. "Glad to hear we gave you trouble. If even the Master Hacker can't get in, then Kira's motherfuckers should have real trouble." A smirk crossed the blonde's face. "Shit, Matt. I thought you'd been killed or something..."

Matt gave a small chuckle and punched Mello's arm. "Please, give me a little credit Mello. I'm like a cockroach; doesn't matter what you do, you can't get rid of me."

Mello rolled his eyes. "Matt, you've gone beyond the level of cockroach and reached STD. You're THAT hard to get rid of."

For a moment, the two young men stood there, smirking at each other like cocky rivals. But finally, Mello's features softened ever-so-slightly and he put his gloved hand to Matt's shoulder. "It's good to see you, Mail," he said softly.

Matt smiled and wrapped his arms around the blonde in a tight hug, "Likewise Mihael." Matt pulled away and looked Mello in the eyes, a serious expression now on his face.  
"What's been happening lately?"

Mello sighed and ran a hand through his golden locks. "Well I'm sure you know that Near failed. Light Yagami has him imprisoned--along with Halle and the others--in an unknown location. I couldn't give a shit about Near, but I don't want to leave Halle there to die... We've been working on finding them."

"And how has that been going for you?"

"It's like finding a Hershey's Kiss at a diabetic convention." Mello leaned against the railing once more and looked out over the landscape. In the distance, he could see the spires of Kira's First Holy Church.

Matt shook his head at the metaphor and took another drag. He looked at his friend, somewhat worried, but unwilling to say so.  
"You're not going to try anything stupid are you?"

Mello gave Matt a sidelong glance. "Does busting into Kira's fucking high holy gates with guns blazing count?" He was only half-joking.

Matt glared at the blonde and gave him a shove. He looked out into the distance and sighed, "Just...don't get yourself killed okay? I'd never forgive myself for letting you do something so stupid."

Mello rolled his eyes. "Oh please, Matt. Don't be melodramatic -- that's my job." For a moment, silence was allowed to exist between the two as each turned over their thoughts. With a loud snap, Mello broke off a square of chocolate and pushed himself away from the railing. "Hey, why don't you come with me? I'll introduce you to the gang."

Matt hesitated, not quite sure he wanted to get involved with Mello's 'gang'. The other man had always attracted trouble as a kid and he was sure it would be no different now that he was a grown man. In the end though, he sighed and walked over to follow Mello.

Mello led Matt down the many steps of the bell tower and into the main part of the church. They had to keep the main nave clear of any signs of life, just in case Kira's Kingdom decided to pay a visit. It was in the basement, however, that the Anti-Kira members made their shelter. Mello had always appreciated the irony in that they found their true sanctuary closest to Hell.

The heavy double doors leading to the catacombs were pushed aside. Mello led Matt down the cement stairs and, finally, into the true Headquarters.

"Alright, geeks, put down your shit and listen up," Mello addressed the half a dozen people assembled throughout the main part of the basement. The one kick Mello got out of his day was getting to throw his authority around. It was the only thing he had left.

They all looked up from their computers at once. It was obvious then to Matt why Mello had called them all "geeks." There were ten computers in the room, and each and every one of them was in use. Matt saw one young man watching two monitors at once with equal intensity. He couldn't help but be reminded of L or Near.

"Guys, this is Matt," Mello said, beginning the introductions. His arm was draped casually around the redhead's shoulders.

"Wait, THE Matt?" said a teenage girl with short black hair. She stood up from her station and went over to the leader and his new arrival. Although she was the one who had shown Matt inside, no proper introductions had been made. Matt of course had been checked for wires, bugs, and weapons, but she was unable to find any, which was the only reason Matt had been allowed entry.

Matt sniggered in Mello's direction. "Oh, so I have a reputation?"

Mello rolled his eyes and shoved Matt lightly away from him. "Yes, Pip, this is the Matt I told you guys about."

The girl called Pip grinned at the goggle-wearing gamer. "My name is Pip. Actually," she continued, "my REAL name is..."

"Shut it, Pip! You know we aren't allowed to tell our names to anyone," said the boy that  
Matt had seen reading off of two computer screens.

Pip frowned. "Oh, right, I forgot…"  
Mello sighed; sometimes he felt like a high school teacher. "Icarus," he addressed the purple-haired boy, "where's your brother?"

Icarus shrugged. "I think he was out getting food."

Mello nodded and turned to Matt. "You'll meet Iggy later, I guess."

"He's my twin brother," Icarus explained.

A small squeal came from behind one of the screens and a head soon followed, causing the five already standing by the door to turn. A petite girl came out and stood in front of Matt, bouncing.  
"O.M.G! _I've always wanted to meet 're so cool and you are way cuter then I thought you'd be!_"

Mello rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. "This little ball of energy is JJ. JJ," the blonde man said, turning to the girl with a resentful smile on his face, "who gave you coffee?"

"I did."  
A tall blonde man came over and grabbed JJ, pulling her back like a dog trainer would an overzealous puppy. He looked quite a bit older then the girl. "Sorry about that, but she wouldn't stop whining until I did." Mello grumbled, but nodded; ANYTHING was better than hearing JJ whining.

Matt looked around and spotted someone still at their computer. It was another man; he was sipping tea and reading something on his screen. He looked incredibly bored.

"Who's that guy?" Matt asked the blonde man attempting to corral JJ.

"That's Kai, he doesn't talk much."

"And you are...?"

"Mika."

Mello ate up the last of his chocolate bar and balled the wrapper in his fist. "Ok, that's it for now, guys. I'll be back in a while for a status report. Let me know when Iggy gets back." Mello always made sure that he knew where the task force members were at all times. He didn't want his team to take any risks.

The others nodded and returned to their maps and charts. They were still hard at work attempting to locate the SPK.

"C'mon," Mello said to the redhead. Without further explanation, he led the way into an adjoining room to the tech lab, which served as his own private chambers.

The room, beside the few main essentials, was bare. Matt looked around at the haphazard lists and charts Mello had lying around and smiled at how disorganized it all was. It seemed that some things never changed.

Mello sank onto the mattress and ran a hand through his hair. "It's pathetic, eh?" he said, laughing bitterly. "Just a few years ago, I thought I would one day live to be L; to have a giant apartment and hordes of policemen at my beck and call. Now what do I have? A bunch of above-average teenagers and some out-dated computers..."

Matt snatched up a chocolate bar that Mello had left lying around and tossed it to the blonde. With a small smile, he took his rightful seat next to his old friend. "Just be glad you're not L right now, I mean look where Near ended up." The gamer took another cigarette out of his pack and lit it, taking a drag.

Mello was forced to chuckle at that. "Near deserves what he has. I hope he's getting ass-raped by Kira as we speak." The blonde bit into his one true vice and chewed thoughtfully. "Matt," he said finally, "please tell me you're here to stay. I can't believe I'm saying this, but... I really do need your help."

Matt looked over at his friend, a little surprised at how he sounded. Could that have been the subtle musk of neediness that Matt smelled? Nevertheless, he nodded reassuringly and put his arm around Mello and gave a weak smile.

"Of course I'm staying. I wouldn't let you have all the fun."

Mello laughed quietly and snapped off some more of his chocolate. "Fun? I haven't had fun in ages. Fun used to be kidnapping the deputy director's daughter or waving my gun in some punk-ass goonie's face. This isn't fun. This is stagnant."

Matt knew all too well what happened when Mello got too restless; he blew shit up, he took people down. Things could only sit still for so long before Mello took a nose-dive off the deep end.

Matt sighed and pulled Mello closer, "You need to take a break some time. This shit is gonna be the death of you." He took another drag and started coughing, too many years of smoking catching up with him.

"Hypocrite," Mello chuckled under his breath. "Why don't you take a break from smoking, then?"

Matt only rolled his eyes stood up, pulling Mello with him. "Come on, you can show me what I've missed and we can make a plan. Together."

Mello nodded at the general cheesiness of the moment. "Yeah, man, whatever you say."

~*~

By the time that Mello had Matt all caught up on their progress -- which wasn't much -- Iggy had arrived with dinner. Although they had equipped the old church with computers and TVs, they had yet to get their hands on a refrigerator. Therefore, all meals and perishable provisions had to be brought in from the outside.

Matt and Mello walked out of the bedroom to find everyone crowding around someone, although Matt couldn't see who. The redhead spotted JJ and asked her what was happening.

"IGGYBROUGHTFOODANDI'MREALLYHUNGRY!!!"

Mello winced at the sound of JJ's hyperactive voice. "JJ!" he shouted. "Continue to say everything on one breath and you will be the newest addition to the gargoyle family on the roof!"

Iggy looked up from the cartons of Chinese food he was unloading and laughed. "In a good mood today, Mel?"

"Isn't Mello ALWAYS in a good mood?" asked Icarus, smirking.

"Oh always. He has such impeccable manners, after all," agreed Iggy.

Mello, whom was stuffing his face with a mouthful of almond chicken, flicked the twins off. Good-naturedly, of course…

Matt snorted and accepted a carton of sweet and sour chicken. He watched as the others took their food and sat down, talking to one another. A sudden whistle from the back of the room drew everyone's attention. It was the quiet guy, Kai. He had a remote in his hand which he used to click on the TV.

"What are we watching?" Matt said to no one in particular.

Mika turned and answered, "It's time for Kira's Kingdom."

Matt could only raise an eyebrow in question. He had never seen reason in watching the "religious" cult show, choosing instead to ignore Kira's existence as best as humanly possible.

On screen, a cute Japanese girl with shiny yellow hair and big blue eyes was speaking solemnly to the studio audience as she read from a massive tome. It was her job to deliver the rules of Kira.

The redhead nearly choked on his chicken. Matt stared at the screen in shock, eyes wide and mouth agape.  
"What the--IS THAT MISA AMANE?!? THE _Misa-Misa_?!"

The others began to laugh.  
"Of course that's Misa-Misa!" Pip said. "She's one of Kira's wives."

"ONE OF THEM?!"

Pip nodded. "Misa Amane and Kiyomi Takada. They hate each other, of course, but somehow they love Kira."

Icarus rolled his eyes. "People treat it like it's a soap opera. They're turning a murderer into a God and a pop idol all at once."

Matt couldn't believe what he was hearing. Man, he really had missed a lot hadn't he?  
"This is ridiculous...how is this even possible...?"

"It's possible because Light-fucking-Yagami is letting it be that way," Mello said, a dark glint in his eye. "But I can't believe you didn't know all of this already, Matt. Have you been living under a rock?"

Matt turned away from the blonde, merely grunting, so that his beet red complexion wouldn't be made visible. It wasn't so much that he had been living under a rock, it was that...he hadn't really cared to hear about it. The world. After finding out about L's death, Matt had sunk into a deep depression. He didn't give a flying fuck what happened to himself or the people around. Except for one ornery blonde, of course. In all truth, if it weren't for Mello, Matt wouldn't have bothered with the physical world again. There was no point, anyway. L was dead; the only real goal Matt had ever had in life gone with him. Kira was winning; it was better to run inside and hide.

Mello watched Matt carefully. What was he not telling him? No matter, Mello thought, he would coax it out of the redhead later.

"As you all know," Misa-Misa was saying on the TV, "tomorrow is the day for our God Kira's weekly visit. BUT, tomorrow will be unlike anything you have seen before! Judgment carried out live by the God of the New World for you all to see!"

Mello sat up straighter at this. His eyes narrowed in muted curiosity. Judgment? Did that mean Kira was going to kill somebody on TV? Surely even Light Yagami wouldn't have the balls for that…

Matt just stared at the TV, horribly confused. Kira...the bastard was going to kill someone. And on live television no less.

What the hell was this world coming to? Matt stood up suddenly and walked out of the room. "I-I'm going to get some air," he said, barely loud enough to be heard.

Mello showed no sign of noticing Matt leave. His eyes were plastered to the TV. Even as the show reached a close and the credits rolled, the blonde sat back in his chair and ran a hand over his face. There was no way he could stop Kira from doing whatever it was he wanted to do... He had six teenagers, plus Matt, and maybe a dozen guns. Kira, on the other hand, had thousands, no, MILLIONS of followers. There was nothing to be done.

"I'm going to go make sure Matt is ok," Pip said. She had a reputation for being the self-appointed "camp counselor." If Mello was the uppity high school professor, Pip was the friendly first grade teacher.

The girl made her way out into the nave of the church where she found Matt smoking near a busted-out stained glass window.

Matt turned around when he heard footsteps, but went back to thinking when he saw that it was only Pip.

Pip put her hands in the pocket of her baggy wool coat. "Hey, I just came to check if you were ok," she said kindly. "But if you'd rather I leave you alone..." She started to backtrack for the stairs again.

Matt turned and looked at Pip, stress clearly showing on his face for the first time that day. "Just...stay here for a little bit? I just…fuck, I don't even know anymore." he cursed quietly, kicking a stray piece of rock and sending it skidding across the chapel.

The girl nodded and came closer. "What's wrong?"

"Everything! Kira's got control and no one has enough balls to do anything about it!" He started to pace. "I mean, I know Mello does, but-" the redhead heaved a sigh and flopped down on the floor, head in his hands.

Pip knelt down beside the boy, her brow knit in concern. "We're going to do it, Matt. We will. Mello is smart, I know he is. He's smart enough to beat Kira." She put a delicate hand to his shoulder and squeezed.

Matt just shook his head, "I know he's smart enough, that's not the problem. It's that he's too impulsive." Matt looked to the girl, his eyes red. "I don't need him to die too."

Pip smiled sadly at him. "You care a lot about Mello, don't you?"

"You could say that."

"Well don't worry, Matt. Now that you're here, I'm certain we'll make it. All of us." Her smile intensified in warmth.

Matt started to laugh. God, he loved optimists, the only people in the world who could see the small gem of hope in this shit-pile world.

Pip started to laugh as well. "Why are you laughing at me?" she giggled. "I was telling the truth!"

"Forget about it." Matt stood and stomped out the butt of his cigarette. "Let's just go back, huh?" He ruffled the girl's hair playfully and headed for the stairs.  
Pip shook her head, giggling, and trailed behind him.

Back in the basement, dinner had been cleaned up and each member of the task force was beginning to prepare for the coming of night. People like Mello, who didn't sleep, were setting up camp on the couch with a cappuccino in one hand and a bar of chocolate in the other. The blonde looked up as Matt and Pip entered.  
"Where'd you two run off to?" he asked.

Matt gave the blonde a cocky grin, "Oh wouldn't you like to know?"

Mello rolled his eyes and returned his attention to his laptop. "Just don't go violating my staff, Matt. Not all of them are of legal age."

"I'm nineteen, thank you very much," Pip said, haughty all of a sudden, and stuck her tongue out at Mello.

Matt giggled, his mental breakdown momentarily forgotten. He sat down next to Mello and pulled out his video game, "So....now what?"

"Now, Matthew, is the time that most humans go to sleep. Notice the dark sky outside?"

"No need to be an ass-hole, Mel," Matt said as he chewed on the butt of an unlit cig. "Why aren't YOU going to bed then, huh? Mister Smart-ass?" Matt stuck his tongue out at the blonde before returning his focus to his game.

"He doesn't sleep, Matt," Iggy said, yawning.

"Yeah. He's like a vampire," Icarus added.

"I think he gets it from L, actually..." Matt mused. "Everyone at Wammy's House knew that Mello wanted to be just like L, after all."

"Fuck you, Matt."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

That was pushing it one rung too far for Mello. The lithe blonde got to his feet, knocking aside his laptop and coffee, both of which fell to the floor. "Cocky bastard..." he cursed under his breath as he slammed the door to his bedroom.

The others winced.

"Looks like you pissed off Papa Bear," Iggy said.

Matt cocked an eyebrow at the door and shrugged. "Touchy, touchy, touchy..." He continued to press buttons on his games.

Eventually, everyone else wandered off to their respective beds to catch a few hours of sleep. Mello was still shut up in his room, which left Matt the option of going in and apologizing or grabbing a piece of couch for the night.

Matt sighed and decided to apologize, figuring that if Mello was still mad he might try to kill him in his sleep. He went up to the door and knocked at it softly.  
"Mello? You asleep?"  
He didn't receive an answer. Matt again had two choices: forget it and sleep on the broken, lumpy couch or kick down the door.  
"Mello! Open the fucking door!!"  
He REALLY wanted to sleep in a bed.

Mello threw open his door, dressed in only a pair of loose-fitting black sweatpants and his usual crucifix necklace. "What the fuck do you want, Matt? You're going to wake the whole fucking house!" he hissed between his teeth.

Matt pulled his goggles around his neck and ran a hand through his hair.  
"Well, if you had opened the door in the first place..."

The blonde rolled his eyes and stepped aside. "Get in, you big baby."

Matt strolled into the room, scratching at the back of his head nervously. Mello shut the door and started to tap his foot, clearly impatient.

"Well, if you got something to say then say it already."

Matt sighed, "I'm...sorry. You know, about the comment. Didn't think you'd react so badly to it."

Mello tensed for a moment. "Oh, that. Well. Let's just forget about it. The twins hauled in an extra mattress for you, if you'd like to use it. The couch isn't very comfortable." The blonde kicked the twin mattress with a toe.

Matt looked slightly disappointed.

Mello cocked an eyebrow. "What is it? You didn't want to sleep on that dirty old couch, did you?"

"No...I just thought I would get to sleep with YOU." Matt looked up at Mello through his eyelashes.

Mello's wide-eyed surprise lasted only as long as it took Matt to break into giggles. The bastard was teasing him.

Ah, Matt thought even as Mello chucked a heavy combat boot in his direction, good times were here again.


	2. A Show Of Power

A/N: Alright, here's chapter two!!. Dukki and I just finished writing it today and we're eager to see what you guys think of it. PLEASE ENJOY AND TELL US WHAT YOU THINK!!! 3

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**Chapter Two-- A Show of Power**

Matt awoke slowly the next day, the bruise on his head that Mello's thrown boot had left was throbbing painfully. He groaned and sat up, stretching. He looked over at Mello's bed only to find that the blonde wasn't there.

_Must be up already_, he thought as he rolled himself off the creaky mattress. He got up and went out to join the others.

Mello was indeed already up, as was everybody else, although they hadn't been for long. Coffee was being poured, and donuts that Iggy had so thoughtfully returned with the day before were being choked down

"Oooo, lookie here, it's Matty doin' the Walk of Shame," heckled Iggy. "Complete with stylish sex-hair."

Matt's red hair was indeed sticking up at several very odd angles.

"I wish; I wouldn't mind getting laid," he said, laughing. "I'm just cursed with morning sex-hair." He snatched a cup of coffee out of JJ's hands and went to sit on the couch.

"HEYTHATWASMINE!!!"

Mello did his usual twitch at JJ's squealing. "JJ. Shut. Up. It's too. Early. In. The. Morning." The blonde had bags under his eyes to rival his mentor's.

Matt giggled as the small brown-haired girl pouted.

Mika smiled as around a mouthful of donut. "So Matt," the tall man began, "how _did_ you sleep?"

"Shitty."

Mika chuckled softly.

"You snore," Mello added to Matt. He was idly flipping through a newspaper as he downed a cup of coffee.

"And you talk in your sleep," the redhead replied. He pulled out a lighter and started on his first cigarette of the day.

Mello looked over at him, mouth agape. "The fuck? I do not!"

Matt smirked and blew a puff of smoke in Mello's face.

"Yes, you do. A lot, actually. Something about a giant chocolate bar?"

Mello grinned dreamily. "You're an asshole, but I'll admit that sounds nice."

Matt bit his lip, trying not to laugh, "You didn't sound too happy though. I think it was running away from you or something."

"They're tricky little bastards," Mello said conversationally and flipped a page in his newspaper. This was one of the rare occasions that his team saw him in a truly humorous mood.

JJ started giggling as she listened to the two talk; it was better then TV. She then began to jump up and down, a big smile on her face. "WhatarewegoingtodotodayMello?"

Mello shot her a look. "Rewind. Pause. Play. And SLOW THE HELL DOWN WHEN YOU SPEAK, WOMAN."

JJ glared and stuck her tongue out at the blonde. Mika ruffled her hair and turned back to their boss, "I believe she wishes to know what you have planned for us today."

"Thank you for translating, Mika." Mello set down his newspaper slowly and pressed a thumb to his lips. After several moments of thought, he looked up at them all and sighed. "I'm afraid there's nothing we can do except for keep on searching for the SPK. Once we find them, we find out how to get into wherever it is they're being held, and hopefully take Kira down with us. Even if we don't nab Kira at that point, you can bet your asses that Near will be looking for vengeance."

"Thought you didn't care about Near, Mel," Matt said from under a cocked eyebrow.

Mello rolled his eyes. "Duh, Matt, I DON'T care about him. But if Near lives through this and we don't catch Kira first, he'll do everything he can to get his hands around the bastard's throat. We can either ride that anger out or be crushed by it." Mello wasn't too keen on accepting help from the albino twit, but maybe stealing his help wasn't the same thing…

Matt rolled his eyes and finished his cigarette, not seeing an ashtray anywhere; he flicked the butt into a small trash can next to the couch. "I'm gonna finish getting dressed."

"Please do," Mello said with a nod.

"And comb that disgraceful mop of yours, Matthew!" Iggy called teasingly after him in his sing-songy English accent.

Matt flipped the boy the bird before slamming the door to Mello's room shut. He sighed and dragged his fingers through his hair, trying to get it flat if nothing else. He pulled on his pants and boots, deciding to forgo the vest. It wasn't like he was going out on the town or anything.

Mello joined Matt in the bedroom after several moments, catching a flash of the gamers skin as his usual stripped shirt took its place. With a stifled sigh, the blonde flopped onto his mattress and fixed the grimy ceiling with a firm stare.

"What's up? Being a leader not all it's cracked up to be?"

Mello ran a hand over his face. "It's not the being a leader part that's the problem. It's the fact that I have no where to take them... They're going to get sick of chugging away on Kira chat-rooms after a while, Matt... When they're gone, I'm screwed. This is Justice's last chance."

Matt went over and sat on the edge on the bed, playing around with the hem of Mello's pant leg. "Where did you even find these kids in the first place?"

Mello chuckled softly. "They were on the Wammy's House waiting list. These are the kids that never got the chance they deserved to prove themselves to L. I see it only fitting that they get to play L now."

Matt smiled softly; Mello could be such a god-damned poet... "You're a good guy, Mel. You can sure act like a real bitch sometimes, but you're a good person," Matt said sincerely and patted Mello on the head.

Mello was forced to laugh. His hand moved in front of his mouth to cover the gaping mirth of it all. "Wow, Matt, uh, thanks," he managed to say, still chuckling. "But don't pet me. I'm not the family dog."

"Yeah, you're more of a cat actually. They're just as anti-social as you are."

"I'M antisocial? Me?" Mello sat up and poked Matt's chest. "_You're_ the one who was plugged into a video game even when coming to see me for the first time in over a year."

"Yes, but THAT'S expected of me." Matt grinned and puffed himself up proudly.

Matt laughed and put his hand to Matt's shoulder. Absently, he ran a finger across the skin of the other boy's neck. "Hey, Matt...Do you think L would be...proud of us? For trying, even if we were at the moment failing?" He looked at his friend, eyes distant.

Matt blushed and gave a small shiver at his friend's touch, but continued to look him in the eye.

"I-I'm sure he would be," he stuttered, still a little sore when it came to the topic of L. "Although I doubt he would call it failing. He'd probably call it 'being at a temporary disadvantage'."

Mello chuckled. "That's exactly what he would say... Shit, I miss him so much... Even though I only met him once in my life, it was good to know he was there." It was then that Mello recalled a quote from the book Fight Club, _'You spend your whole life searching for a father-figure and God...'_ or something like that. Well, he had gotten his turn with a father -- L -- and now it was time to deal with "God."

With a sigh, Mello removed his hand from Matt's shoulder. "We should get back out there. It's almost time for Kira's Kingdom, remember?"

Matt blinked owlishly, as if snapping out of a daze. He nodded absentmindedly and watched Mello walk out of the room. He didn't know what was coming over him, but he was sure it would wreak hell on their working relationship. Still, he got up and followed the blond out, hearing the TV already on in the other room.

Misa-Misa was going through her usual routine of law-giving and finger wagging. Boring. Even the studio audience was rolling their eyes; all anybody wanted was Kira.

"So they're really going through with it..." Mello said, his voice a bit hollow.

Matt walked up behind the couch and watched the blonde girl on the TV blabber on. As soon as she finished the introduction, dramatic music began to play onscreen. The set went black, and suddenly a spotlight shined down on someone onstage. Matt's eyes widened; it was Kira.

Mello looked ready to shoot the TV. In fact, he was already fingering his gun...

Back on the plush stage, a silhouetted figure strode proudly into the spotlight and became illuminated.

"What the fuck is on his face?" Matt said, peering closer.

"A mask," Mello replied. "The fucker's too much of a coward to show his face, just in case anyone watching has a shinigami on their side as well."

Matt's brow furrowed; the mask gave him the creeps. It brought to mind the shell of a big black beetle. No features on Kira's face could be distinguished, save for the up-turned curl of the man's cocky smirk and a few tufts of copper-colored hair.

It was obvious why Kira's caution annoyed Mello. Even though the man's face and name were already known to him, and even though Kira knew this, the mask was still being used. It meant that Light Yagami no longer saw Mello as being a threat to him. For all he knew, Mello was dead and gone. Even if he wasn't truthfully gone, he was as good as such; no one in the outside world had seen hide-nor-hair of L's second-best since the kidnapping of Sayu Yagami, which had ultimately ended in disaster.

Matt put his hand on Mello's shoulder in an effort to both bring his friend from his thoughts and hopefully stray the blonde's hand away from the handle of his gun; it wasn't working.

Kira-Light was ready to begin.

Above the fanatical screaming of Kira's most devote followers, the god in human skin raised one elegant hand. The noise ceased at once.

"Six years ago, I began my reign. Many were fearful, as is their right," Light Yagami began, his voice low. "Some grew so fearful that they sought to destroy me, which is inexcusable. L--" the detective's name drew a riot of shouting and booing. Kira raised his hand again. "L stepped in God's way-my way. But today, I bring you one of those fools that thought they could best Justice. Today, you will witness his punishment."

Matt and the others watched in frightened awe as Kira motioned to someone off stage.

A man was being dragged into view by two large, cloaked figures. He was blindfolded and gagged, but the sounds of his struggling gasps could still be heard over the TV's speakers. Mello narrowed his eyes again; something about the man's light-colored hair and sharply-angled face looked familiar...

"Rester," Mello gasped. "He's going to kill the SPK."

Everyone looked at their leader with wide eyes.

"No! Shit, shit!" the twins shouted at once.

But there was nothing to be done.

Matt bit his lip and continued to watch, despite wanting to turn away.

Kira looked to the camera and smirked. "This man believed that he could challenge Justice. I'm here to show what happens to those that disobey me."

Anthony Rester, whose real name was known to Kira as Anthony Carter, was thrown to the ground by the thugs that held him. He was quick to tear off the simple cloth gag, but the blindfold was locked into place. "You bastard!" Rester was cursing as he pushed himself up onto his knees.

Kira only laughed. "This is what you deserve, fool. You and the rest of the SPK deserve to die," he said.

Before Rester could shout a retort, he fell forward, a hand clutched to his chest. "Agh!" he cried in agony. The man began to writhe on the marble floor of Kira's Kingdom; he was having a heart attack.

"Holy shit!" Matt hissed, gripping the couch tightly. This show of power was only more proof to the redhead; they were going up against something more powerful then he ever could have thought possible. Matt turned to Mello to see the blonde's reaction.

Mello's face was unreadable. The only indication of his outright fury was the small quivering of his hands as they gripped his guns.

Back in Kira's Kingdom, the crowd was going insane. "More!" they shouted. "Please, God, kill the others!"

Once again, Light Yagami raised his hands. "The others will be dealt with accordingly. Fear not, I am unchallenged." With that said and done, Kira turned on his heel and left the same way he had come.

The thugs that had pulled Rester onto the stage were now dragging his corpse off stage left by the wrists.

Icarus turned the TV off. No one objected.

JJ was dead silent, her lip quivering and her eyes wet with unshed tears. Mika turned to Mello, a look of pure hatred in his eyes.

"What the hell do we do now, boss?" He ran a hand through his hair. "We can't just let this keep happening...can we?"

Mello was gnawing on his lip. "Of course we can't," he spat. The blonde got to his feet and began to pace. It was now confirmed that Kira was in direct contact with the SPK. The fact that he had killed Rester was no confirmation of their ongoing safety, however. He could have killed the others and left Rester alive for the final showcase. No, Mello immediately thought. If Kira wanted to make a show of it -- which he obviously did -- he would have used Near, instead of some random member of the force. The others were definitely alive.

"Matt," Mello said suddenly, "We need five seats on a flight to Japan as soon as possible. Can you book us the seats?"

Matt nodded and took a cell phone out of his pocket to call the airline.

JJ, still slightly in shock, went over to Mello. She pulled at his hand and looked up at him, "Am I...going with you?" she said slowly and quietly.

Mello shook his hand. "No. You, Kai, and Icarus will stay behind and clear the church of any sign of us. Get everything out of here that could point to us, understood?"

JJ hesitated, but nodded. She wanted to be helpful to Mello, even if all she was doing was packing. She ran off to get started.

Mika turned to the blond, "And what about the rest of us? What do we need to do right now?"

"Make back-up disks of all of our computers, and then wipe the hard drives."

Mika nodded and went to get started on it.

Matt finished the call and nodded to Mello. "I booked the flight, we leave in two days."

"Thank you," Mello replied. His eyes grew distant as he leaned against the stone wall and peeled open a chocolate bar. Shit... this was not how he had wanted to find the SPK...

Matt looked to his friend and walked over to him. He put a hand on his shoulder and leaned in close to mutter something in his ear.

"Mel, you DO have a plan, right? You're not planning on just going in guns blazing are you?"

Mello looked down at the toes of his boots. "I'm winging it, Matt. It's the best that I can do," he replied softly.

"And if something happens...?"

Mello gave a short chuckle, not without its cynicism. "Define 'something,' because at this point in time, many 'something's' could happen."

Matt shut his eyes, afraid to say what was on his mind in case he jinxed himself.

"What if...you get hurt? Or the others get hurt? What then?"

"People get hurt, Matt. Deal with it. I'm willing to take a little pain for the sake of this fucking cause." He bit off a mouthful of chocolate and looked up at Matt. "Why are you so afraid I'll get hurt?"

Matt pushed himself away from the other man and started to walk away. "Never mind," he called out over his shoulder, "doesn't matter."

Mello followed after Matt, which was something very uncommon; he was supposed to be the leader, dammit. The blonde caught his friend by the arm. "Matt, what the hell is going on with you? I thought you had the guts for this kind of shit."

"Just drop it," the redhead shook off Mello's grip and stalked off towards the stairs. He needed to think. He needed to get away from the impulsive blonde and all of the devastating situations that he brought to mind.

Mello dropped his hand and instead used it to pinch the bridge of his nose. After a moment, he looked up to find the entire basement watching him. "Don't you all have some fucking work to do?!" he snapped.

The door was slammed yet again.


	3. Time to Leave

A/N: Oh wow, this story is moving along fast. O_O Anyhoo...here's chapter three, me and Dukki JUST finished this chapter like...maybe half an hour ago? Yeah, we're really getting into it. This chapter should give a little background on Matt and make you fluff lovers smile(not MxM fluff, not yet). Here it is, tell me what you think!

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**Chapter Three--Time to Leave**

Matt decided that dealing with Mello was not something he wanted to do. So, that night he chose to set up camp on the couch. The cushions were lumpy, he was attacked by spiders, and he woke up the next morning with smears of chocolate on his clothes, but it was better than being shut up in a room with Mello for over six hours.

Early the next morning, while the sun was still hiding in fear of the moon, Mello pulled on his favorite black vest and matching leather pants. He needed to get out.

A note was left on the coffee table -- "Gone out. I have my phone. Call only for emergencies. -M"

Mello hopped in the beat-up old Buick he had managed to buy and tore off in the direction of town, leaving his team to fend for themselves.

Matt woke up sore; maybe sleeping on the floor would have been a better idea. He stretched and pulled on his boots -- he had slept in his clothes in case everyone else woke up before him again. He spotted the note Mello had left and rolled his eyes. Of course Mello would bail out. So typical.

He grabbed his smokes and went up the stairs.

Pip and Iggy were sitting in one of the pews with mugs of untouched coffee in their hands. They spoke in low voices, and the whispers carried over to Matt like wisps of smoke. As the redhead's foot crunched down on a bit of glass, Pip looked up at him. The talking ceased at once.

"G-good morning, Matt," the girl said with a faint smile.

Matt nodded and lit his cigarette, the lighter pin-pointing his location in the semi-darkness of the church.

"Did you see Mello's note?" Pip asked.

Another nod was his only answer.

Iggy and Pip exchanged glances; something seemed wrong with Matt, but they thought it rude to pry.

Iggy, in an effort to break the silence, cleared his throat and said, "Man, I can't wait to see Japan. I mean, I know it's like the epicenter of evil at the mo, but it should be...I don't know, better than this at least, right?"

Pip nodded and swirled her coffee around in the mug. "Yeah I'm excited too"

"Yeah, exciting." Matt said sarcastically. He took a deep drag on his cigarette and started to cough.

Pip bit her lip and went over to the redhead. "Here, why don't you try this instead?" She offered him her coffee and a small smile in the dank morning air.

Matt took the cup gratefully, still trying to catch his breath. He took a drink and wrinkled his nose. Apparently Pip liked her coffee black.  
"Thanks," he said regardless.

Pip giggled softly at the face he was making. "Too strong? I could go grab some sugar?"

Matt shook his head. He went over and sat himself down on the pew the girl had been sitting on moments ago.  
"How long have you two been up?"

"About an hour," Iggy replied. "We have a habit of waking up at the same time," he said with a wink.

Pip rolled her eyes. "If you're trying to suggest that you and I have sex and therefore wake up together, then I think it's my duty to remind you, Iggy, that you're most definitely gay."

"Oh, right..."

Matt snorted and smiled at the two. "Oh really?"

Iggy nodded and put a hand to his chest. "I've been a proud rider of the dude train for most of my post-pubescent life."

Matt couldn't help himself, he started to giggle hysterically. It felt good to laugh like that.

Iggy grinned as Pip joined in on the laughter as well. _Good_, he thought, _at least I'm doing my job_.

Matt's giggles began to slowly subside, but he was still smiling. That was good. He took another drag and started to play with the goggles around his neck.  
"Sooo...either of you know when Mello left?" he asked.

Pip shook her head. "No, but you can be certain he left early when he knew that no one would be awake. He's taking a mental-health day."

"Wish I could do that..." Matt muttered under his breath.

"What? Leave?"

Matt raised an eyebrow questioningly, he shook his head.  
"No. Take a break. Not have to worry about psychos trying to kill me. Maybe when this is all over I'll go to some tropical island and just....relax."

Iggy and Pip exchanged another look. "Well, good news, man," Iggy said, "The psycho killer isn't after you. I doubt he knows about any of us."

"Except Mello. He definitely knows Mello," Pip said. "But at least Kira doesn't know his name."

"Yeah..." Matt's eyes went distant as he thought about that. Kira couldn't kill Mello? Well that was good at least. For now, anyway.

After downing his coffee, Iggy stood. "Well, I'm gonna go get to work. I have a shitload of stuff to do before we leave." The purple-haired young man patted Pip on the shoulder as he made his way back to the basement.

Matt nodded his goodbye to Iggy and leaned back in the pew, trying to stretch out the kinks in his back.

"Rough night?" Pip guessed.

"Yes. The couch is worse then the mattress." The redhead groaned.

"Much worse," Pip said with a nod. "Oh well, think of it this way -- in two days, you'll never have to sleep in it again." She gave him a small smile.

"In two days we'll be in Japan trying to catch a psycho with a god-complex.""

"I can see why you and Mello have survived as friends; you're both cynics."

"You should have seen us as kids."

Pip smiled warmly and put her knees to her chest. She looked so unconsciously like L with her big brown eyes and curious expression that Matt had to blink.

"What was it like at Wammy's House? I've always wondered about it," the girl said dreamily.

Matt had to think about that for a minute. The things he remembered most were the fights between Mello and Near. Well, more like Mello fighting against Near and losing.  
"It's...kinda hard to explain."

"Can you try?" Pip sounded like a desperate little kid trying to get a better explanation of Santa. She wanted to badly to be one of L's children. She had wanted it all her life…

"Well..." He didn't really know where to start. He had never paid much attention to his time at Wammy's. He knew that him, Mello and Near were next in line to succeed L, but that was about it. He had never really hung out with the other kids there. It was actually kinda...  
"Lonely."

Pip nodded. "I can understand lonely. But why were you so lonely? Didn't you have Mello and the other children? Mello told me a story one time about a girl named Linda with a crush on you," she said with a giggle.

"Oh yeah, Linda..." To be truthful, he only just barely remembered the girl. Matt had always been off to the side as a kid. The only reason he knew about the crush was because Mello had told him.

"She gave you flowers and stuff a lot, Mello said."

Matt nodded with a smile on his face as his memories took him back in time. He remembered coming back to his room one day to find a small bouquet of daisies on his bed. It would have been a much nicer gesture if a bee hadn't flown out of said bouquet and stung him. He couldn't remember if he had ever thanked the girl for the flowers…

Pip reached over and carefully grabbed the mug of coffee that she had given to Matt. She took a small sip and placed it back in his hands. "Sorry, I was starting to get cold," she giggled.

Matt nodded. He wrapped a bold arm around the girl and pulled her close, trying to warm her up a little.

Pip felt her cheeks blossom with pink. "T-thanks," she said. She allowed herself to snuggle a little closer.

Matt laughed a little, his cheeks growing warm too, "No problem."

The two sat quietly for several long minutes, not sure what to say but feeling comfortable in the silence. Rain had long since begun to beat a heavy tattoo on the roof of the old church, and now-and-again, Matt would feel a droplet of water run cold down his neck.

They were not the only ones that had noticed the rain.

"_God damn fucking cold_! The one day that it rains... _Fuck_!"

Mello was home.

And wet.

Matt turned around in the pew to look back at the soaking wet blonde. "Something wrong, Mello?"

"Don't try to be fucking cute, Matt," Mello seethed. His sopping red coat was thrown to the ground, followed by his freezing cold vest. Pip was quick to give him the blanket that she had been using.

Matt snickered as he watched the blonde shiver. "You really should learn to check the weather before you go out."

"Shut the fuck up," Mello snapped. "I would have been fine if the fucking car hadn't fucking broken down on the way up the hill. I almost fucking died because the ground was wet and the brakes are for shit. I hate dirt roads..."

The redhead sighed and got up off the pew, snubbing out his smoke and flicking the butt away. He grabbed Mello by the shoulder and started to lead him back to the basement.  
"Come on, lets at least get you down stairs where you can put on some dry clothes."

Mello nodded and allowed himself to be led away.

The sun was fully raised in the sky now, casting proper light into the dark chapel. It had to be nearly ten o'clock.

Down in the basement, things were busy as the task force members buzzed from computer station to computer station with USB-drives in hand. They had a lot of information to collect in only 48 hours...

Matt watched the kids move around the small area, collecting data and packing boxes. He flopped down on the couch and closed his eyes. If they needed him they could wake him. For now, he would just wait.

~*~

The next two days were a flurry of work, late nights, and cups of coffee, but finally, Mello, Matt, Pip, Iggy, and Mika were ready to embark on their trip to Japan.

Of course, now that they didn't have a car anymore, Mello was forced to hot-wire one...

Matt rolled his eyes as the car pulled away from the curb. Same old Mello.  
"Why couldn't you have picked a bigger car?"

"Because big cars tend to belong to big people. How long do you think you would last against the captain of the football team, poindexter?"

The three in the backseat sniggered.

"About as long as you would without your guns, Miss Priss."

Mello shot him a look. "I could kick your ass any day. Ask Mika; I nearly broke his arm during a training session."

Mika grumbled in the back, "You didn't have to be so damn rough."

"You like it rough, now be quiet."

Matt put his face in his palm; this was going to be a long drive...

~*~

After an excruciatingly long car ride through idiot-infested highways and more than one outburst from Mello, Matt and Pip pulled the bags from the back of the car and handed them to their respective owners. They then made their way inside the airport.

Matt had intentionally booked them seats on a nearly empty flight, thinking that it would be to Mello's liking. It was, indeed, much appreciated, but Mello was having trouble showing it…

"Out of my way, asshole!" the blonde hissed at a slow-moving young man and his girlfriend. He shoved the lovebirds aside and led the way through the gate and onto the plane. Mello hated crowds, and he hated to fly. Shit.

"Such wonderful manners," Matt muttered, apologizing to the couple as he passed them. He was trying his best to keep up with his friend. The blonde was practically RUNNING to the gate.

Mello slumped into a seat toward the back of the plane and propped his foot against the empty chair in front of him. A chocolate bar was unwrapped, and Mello began the process of mental preparation. With a chuckle, Matt sat down beside his friend and patted him on the shoulder.

Pip, Miki, and Iggy took their seats in the row across from Mello and Matt.

Matt leaned back in his seat and took out his game. He was about to turn it on when a steward came by and tapped him on the shoulder.

"What is it?"

"Sir, you can't have electronics on the plane."

Matt's face fell. "What? Why?"

"It interrupts with the plane's radio systems," the steward replied.

"No it doesn't," Matt retorted. "This tiny little hand held game couldn't possibly emit enough waves or whatever the hell you're afraid of to mess with the radio of a plane this big. This thing," he waved the game in front of the steward's face, "runs on double-A batteries. Since when are they a threat to airplanes?"

The steward could only blink. "U-Uh... Just...don't let anybody see you with it," he said before wandering off.

Matt smirked and chugged away at the game.

Mello had to chuckle; Matt wasn't Number Three for no reason, after all.

Matt laughed and glanced over at Mello. "Did you see that guys face when I told him off? Priceless."

Mello rolled his eyes, still grinning. "Atta boy, Matty."

Matt just nodded and concentrated on his game. He was almost to level 45.

Mello settled into his seat, already bored, and the plane hadn't even left the gate yet…  
"Matt," he said. "Put the game away and fucking talk to me."

Matt snorted, "You can NOT be bored already."

"I am. Deal with it."

"What if I don't wanna?"

Mello fixed Matt with a narrow stare. In a flash, he snatched Matt's beloved PSP from his gloved hands and sat on it. "The only way you can get it back now is to dig around in my ass. I don't think that even YOU would go that far."

Matt contemplated whether or not he should try and grab the game. He had the choice of grabbing Mello's ass or talking...

"Fine, fine, what do you want to talk about?"

Good choice, Matt.

Mello thought for a moment as he chewed on his candy. "How about where the hell you've been? I thought for sure I'd find you standing on my doorstep right after I left; you always were like a fucking lost puppy."

Matt glared at the blonde; Mello actually thought he would follow him?

"When you left I got pissed. I left Wammy's as soon as possible and tried to make it on my own."

Mello nodded and looked down at his lap. "How'd that go for you?"

The redhead shrugged. "Pretty good for a while. I got a job as a computer programmer. Made good money. Hell, at one point I even thought about buying a house and settling down."

"Settling down?" Mello said, looking up at him. "With anyone in particular?" To be honest, he couldn't picture Matt doing anything as domestic as getting married or balancing his checkbook... Or maybe that was because Mello would never do any of those things himself.

Matt shook his head, laughing quietly to himself. He found the idea more than a little funny. "No, I wasn't even dating. That's not to say there weren't girls who wanted to." He smirked a little at that.

"No girls for you, eh? Am I gonna have to get used to the idea of you sleeping in neon pink short-shorts like Iggy?" Mello teased.

"NEON PINK SHORTSHORTS?!" Matt exclaimed, drawing stares from the few other on the flight, not to mention Iggy. He blushed and lowered his voice. "No, I wasn't dating anyone. No one really...appealed to me."

Mello had to hide loud laughter behind his hand. He now knew what to get Matt for Christmas... "Well, sorry to hear about your lack of love-life, man."

"Eh it's fine. I just didn't want to get involved with anyone. Seemed like too much trouble. Besides, I was still dealing with you leaving and the whole 'L is dead' thing..."

Mello grimaced. "Yeah, sorry you had to deal with that on your own..." The blonde returned his gaze to his knees. "And I'm sorry for leaving without saying goodbye..." he said quietly.

Matt shrugged. "It's fine." He went quiet after that, not really knowing what to say next.

Mello returned to nibbling on his chocolate bar as he tried to suppress old memories.


	4. Mitsubishi and Melodramatics

A/N: CHAPTER FOUR!!!! If only you guys could see what went into writing this thing. You'd wonder why we aren't locked up in the loony bin yet. XD Not much else to say, besides enjoy.

Disclaimer: We don't own Death Note. Believe me, if we did it would not be appropriate for children. XD We only own our own OC's.

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Chapter Four-- Mitsubishi and Melodramatics

The flight to Tokyo was long -- nearly 12 hours -- and the members of the Anti-Kira task force were using that idle time as a chance for sleep. Everyone except for Mello, as usual.

Matt was snoring softly in the seat next to his brooding friend. Dead to the world.

Mello was beginning to go crazy. This was why he hated plane rides; they were too still, too inactive. He couldn't stand being stuffed in that overly plush airline seat with the snoring of the passengers and the crying of the baby in row F. This shit was the pits.

He couldn't stand to think of the case anymore, either. If he thought the word "Kira" one more time, he'd develop a distinct twitch.

"Matt, move your ass," the blonde grumbled as he pushed passed the snoozing gamer. The consequences of the window seat, he supposed. Matt offered a grunt and a slight stir, only managing to move out of Mello's way by an inch or two.

With a sigh, Mello made his way into the bathroom. He needed to throw some water on his face or something. Luckily, the green light was on above the door, so Mello let himself in. But with annoyance, he noticed that the lock was broken anyway…

Matt groaned slightly, wondering why Link was pushing him out of the way of get to Zelda. He opened his eyes a crack and realized it was a dream. Duh. He was still on the plane. He was still on his way to Japan.

The redhead was about to close his eyes and go back to sleep when he felt a pressure on his bladder.

He REALLY needed to go.

He thought about holding it...for about a minute. He quickly got up out of his seat and rushed to the bathroom, not even bothering to check if it was occupied.

Mello looked into the mirror of the tiny little bathroom and cocked an eyebrow. Water was dripping into his eyes from where it clung to his bangs. "Matt? What the fuck are you doing?"

Matt blinked. Oh shit. "Ummmm, trying not to piss my pants. Get out, I gotta go."

Mello sneered. "No way, man, I was here first. Wait your fucking turn."

Matt twitched, 'not cool,' he thought to himself.

"Don't be such a bitch, I ACTUALLY have to go. What are you doing that's so important?"

That stopped Mello for a moment. "I'm collecting myself before I grab a parachute and jettison out of this damn plane," he finally said.

Matt cocked an eyebrow at the statement. Seems like Mello had been thinking too much.

"Oh really?"

"Yes. And you obviously don't have to pee that bad, so get out."

"No. You are serving as a distraction so I haven't been thinking about going as much, but now that you've pointed it out...MOVE."

Mello sighed and brushed past Matt. "Big baby..." he muttered.

Matt rolled his eyes and shut the door, making sure that it locked.

When Mello returned to his seat, he found that Matt's damn PSP was still sitting on his chair; apparently, he had been sitting on it all this time. With a slight chuckle, the blonde plopped back down into his seat, rested his feet in Matt's chair, and turned the sleek gaming system over in his hands.

"Gonna give that back to him?" Mika asked, looking over at his boss from his seat in between his two sleeping comrades.

Mello smirked, shrugging, and fiddled with a few of the buttons. "I might make him work for it."

The taller blonde chuckled quietly, "Don't be dirty; there ARE kids on board after all."

Mello looked up at Mika, a bit shocked. "Damn, Mika, I never pegged you for a pervert. I wasn't even talking dirty."

Mika shrugged and leaned back in his seat.

"I'M not, but have you listened to the others talk when they're bored? Dear lord, if it weren't for the gutter their minds would be homeless."

Mello rolled his eyes. "I would hardly talk dirty about MATT, of all people."

"You seem to like him a lot. You get along better with him then you do with us."

Mello said nothing for several moments. It was true; Matt was one of the only people that he could ever let his guard down around. In their Wammy days, although Mello had accused Matt of being like a lost puppy, it was really Mello who craved the other boy's attention. Be that from need for companionship or something else...

"Shut up and go back to sleep," Mello said, not looking up at Mika. He was still fiddling with the PSP.

Mika smiled and closed his eyes, ready to feign sleep for Mello's sake even if he himself was fully rested.

Matt finally walked back to his seat. He couldn't sit down though; Mello's feet were in his chair. He also saw something shiny in Mello's hands …HIS PSP.

"Move and give it back."

Mello smirked. Still looking down at Matt's beloved artifact he said, "You're gonna have to convince me."

_So he wants to play that game_, Matt thought, his brows creased in frustration. Alright, he could play that game too.

"What do you want?"

Mello stuck the PSP in the breast-pocket of his coat and began examining his fingernails. "What are you willing to give?"

"Depends on what you can handle."

Mello snorted. "Don't even try to talk like the dominant one, Matt; it's unappealing to your obviously submissive nature." He looked up at Matt through his bangs, an unintentionally sexy smirk on his face.

Matt huffed and leaned in close, supporting himself on the armrests. "Is that so?"

"Yes," Mello said simply. "Even a girl could top you. It's simple knowledge." He wasn't at all disconcerted by Matt's closeness.

Matt glared at the blonde, peeved that his friend would think him so weak. He was tired of Mello always treating him like this. In a frightening lunge, Matt fell forward and grabbed Mello by the collar of his jacket and brought him close.

"You may not know me as well as you think you do, Mel."

Mello instinctively grasped Matt's hand, harshly digging his fingers into the other man's skin. "What the fuck are you doing, Matt?" he hissed dangerously under his breath. He had only been kidding around with the gamer -- what was up with the violent reaction?

"Do you honestly think of me like that?" He glared at the blonde, pulling him closer.

"Like WHAT?" Mello couldn't help but shout this last syllable. They were starting to attract attention now. Mello saw the steward making his way over...

"Sir, could you please-"

Matt growled and pushed the blonde away only to turn on the steward. "What!?" he barked.

Mello jumped to his feet and pulled Matt back by the shoulder. "Matt just sit down," he said in the redhead's ear. "Shit, man, just sit down and cool it."

Matt took a deep breath, trying to clam himself down. What the hell was _that_? He fell into his chair, running a hand through his hair.

"Go on, we ain't gonna kill each other," Matt said, making a 'shooing' hand motion at the steward. The man looked at the two suspiciously, but left nonetheless.

"I need a smoke..."

"I, uh, don't think you can smoke on the plane, man," Mello said. He absently ran a hand over his neck where Matt's nails had scratched him. "Matt...What was that about? I was just joking around with you."

Matt squeezed his eyes shut, trying to figure it out himself. Fuck, why'd he do that? It felt good, he couldn't deny. To be able to do that, to feel like he had the upper hand for once…but he had attacked Mello...

"I have no fucking clue. You started off on your little spiel and...I don't really know..." He turned to Mello, "You okay?"

Mello rolled his eyes. "No, man, you punctured a blood vessel and I need a transfusion, stat. Of course I'm alright. I think you need to be more worried about your serious sexual frustration."

"Fuck you, man."

Mello held up his hands. "I'm not being an asshole, here, Matt. I'm just coming to a conclusion."

Matt rolled his eyes and looked out the window; it was cloudy so he couldn't really see much. He started to play around with his lighter. Mentally, he scoffed at the idea of 'sexual frustration.' He wasn't THAT deprived…kinda…

Mello sighed and looked across the aisle at his team, whom had all woken up during the commotion. He returned their confused looks with a shake of his head and settled back into his seat.

"Here's your PSP..." Mello set the console in Matt's lap.

The other man looked down at the device in his lap and started to fiddle with it.

"Thanks."

Mello nodded in return and finally closed his eyes to get some sleep. After discovering that the window pane was too cold to lean against, the blonde opted for use of Matt's shoulder instead.

The redhead glanced at the blonde. Of COURSE Mello would use him for a pillow. Matt spared a roll of his eyes before returning to his video game. A cough across the aisle drew his attention, however.

"Soooo....what was that about?" said a young woman's familiar voice.

Pip was watching Matt carefully. On her left, Mika and Iggy were otherwise occupying themselves, which was fine with Matt; at least they weren't watching him. "Is everything alright?" the girl asked softly.

Matt gave her a mere nod and a weak smile. With Mello leaning so close on his shoulder, Matt couldn't say much. But everything was fine this way.

~*~

The rest of the flight went by somewhat peacefully, besides the usual bickering that is. By the time they finally touched down they were sore and rather cranky.

Mika gripped his bags and tried to keep up with Mello's speed walking. "Where are we going exactly, boss?"

"Hotel," Mello grunted. No need for specifics, right? He led them not to the line of people waiting for taxis, but to the check-in counter for car rentals. A false name was given, money was exchanged, and finally the team was trolling the parking lot.

"What kind of car are we looking for, Mello?" Pip asked.

"Something sporty, I hope..." Iggy grumbled.

That was when Mello stopped them short in front of a bright red Mitsubishi Eclipse. The blonde smirked and tossed a set of keys to Matt. "You're driving."

"Wait," Iggy interjected. "What about us? That thing is tiny! There's no way we can fit all of us AND our stuff in there."

"I know," Mello said as he climbed into the passenger's side. "That's why I got you guys the Toyota over there. Have fun." With a wink, he tossed Iggy the keys to their very own minivan.

Matt was already in the car, playing around and trying to get things situated. It was a beautiful car, like something he'd only seen in his Grand Theft Auto video games.

"Finally got a good car. Nice choice." His eyes were shinning; he couldn't wait to get this baby out on the streets...

Mello chuckled around the chocolate that he was already tearing into. "Thanks. Keep in mind that if you stink up this thing with your cigarettes, I'll kill you."

"Too late," the other replied, lighting up his first cigarette in over 13 hours. "If I have to put up with hearing your chocolate chomping, you'll have to deal the smoke."

Mello heaved a sigh. "Fine. Just take us to the hotel." He had pulled out a sleek GPS system from his pocket and was plugging it in.

Matt nodded and rolled down the window. He pulled his goggles up onto his eyes and revved the engine.

"Hold on."

With a grin, he stomped on the gas he peeled out of the driveway.

Mello sniggered and put his hand out the window to wave to the members of the team. They were still loading up the minivan, but luckily, Mello had slipped a second GPS into the pocket of Mika's coat.

As they drove, Mello examined the streets with narrow eyes. Signs supporting Kira were everywhere: shop fronts, bumper stickers, hell, even t-shirts. It was really sickening.

"Alright," Matt began, making a sharp turn, "where do we go from here on out?"

"Do you mean literally or figuratively?"

The gamer rolled his eyes, "You know what I meant Mello. Do you have any idea where Kira might be holding them?"

Them…the damned SPK…

Mello took a deep breath and let it out in something of a hiss. He had been thinking about nothing but the SPK's whereabouts for many months now. It was only until now that he had any solid leads, but even then the clues were vague. "I can guess that Kira would want to keep them close... I'm certain that Near and at least Halle are alive, as well."

Matt nodded and sped through another light. "So, all we have to go on is the fact that they are somewhere in Japan and kept close by Kira."

"It is my guess that the SPK may be in Kira's very own home..."

Matt thought about that for a second. If the SPK really were in Kira's home then it would be next to impossible to get them out. Kira would have them guarded 24/7.

"Damn," he took a drag and blew the smoke out the window. "So how do we get them out if they're really there? It'd be suicide to just burst in there."

"Duh, I know that. I'll have to get back to you on that one." Mello punctuated his sentence with the breaking of chocolate.

"Try not to hurt yourself thinking too hard."

Mello shot him a stony look. "Your sarcasm is not appreciated at the moment, Matt."

_When is it ever?_,he thought as he pulled to a stop in front of a large hotel.

"We're here."

Mello looked up at the towering glass-paneled building that was to be their home for an untold amount of time. The blonde hopped out of the Eclipse and pulled up the hood of his coat. "Go park the car, I'm gonna check us in." Mello winked and headed inside.

It was with great effort that he ignored the "Kira is Justice" badge on the doorman's jacket… This was going to be Hell. Necessary Hell, but Hell nonetheless.


	5. The Lions Den

A/N: So yeah, this was actually finished sometime last night, but I was too tired to put it up. I'm still very tired so I'll wrap this up. Winter break is coming up soon so there may be more updates if we both aren't too busy.

Disclaimer: We only own the OC's.

* * *

**Chapter Five-- The Lion's Den**

Who knew that a bunch of laptops could be so heavy?

When carried up eight flights of stairs....

by three very fatigued teenagers... and Matt.

"I hate goddamn elevators!" Iggy was bellowing as he and his companions trekked up the merciless stairs.

"N-no you don't," Pip disagreed breathlessly. "You hate b-broken elevators..."

"Fuckin-A."

"Come on guys, hurry up!" Matt called out from the top of the stairs. He was only carrying one bag. Lucky bastard...

Mello wasn't carrying anything. Naturally.  
"You guys are so slow," the blonde was grumbling.

Mika blew a stray piece of hair from his face and tried to get a better grip on the equipment. "W-well maybe if-if you helped-"

"For that, Mika, you can sleep on the couch," Mello said flippantly as he headed back inside the suite. Unfortunately, the room that he booked was only equipped with enough beds to sleep six. The remaining two people got to choose from either pair of couches in the living room. Mika, apparently, was taking one of them once the others arrived the next day.

Matt threw his bag onto the floor and flopped onto one of the beds. Damn, it was gonna feel good to sleep on a real mattress tonight.

Mello sat himself down on the bed one over from Matt's. The room was a suite, so there were two beds to a mini-room and three mini-rooms in all. The main portion of the accommodations was a well-equipped kitchen and a reasonably-sized den.

With a contented sigh, Mello began peeling off his vest and his boots. "What time is it?" he asked Matt, not bothering with the alarm clock on the nightstand. He wanted to know the time in England, which would hopefully explain why he felt so drained.

Matt glanced at his wristwatch. "About 5:30am. Why?"

Mello pinched the bridge of his nose as if trying to get the stress of sleep to lift from his brain. "No reason. I'm just dead tired and I have a shitload of stuff to do."

"Oh, well, if that's all."

Mello cocked an unseen eyebrow and looked up at Matt. "What else could there be?"

Matt shook his head, smiling. "Never mind. You want some coffee?" he asked, walking into the kitchen.

Mello nodded, although the fact that Matt was smiling at him for some unknown reason irked him. "C'mon," he said, "you have to tell me what the goofy grin is for."

"I find your inability to hear sarcasm when you're tired amusing."  
He filled the coffee maker and turned it on. While it heated up, he grabbed two mugs from the little cabinet under the TV.

The blonde had to chuckle. "You know I don't have ears for sarcasm. Unless it's my own sarcasm, of course." He laid back in the bed and undid the buckle on his tight pants as well. The time had come for his old fallback: sweatpants. Too bad that Mello was too lazy to get up at the moment.

Matt cocked an eyebrow at his friend and pulled his goggles down around his neck. Mello looked horrible; sleep deprived and stressed beyond all belief. He was surprised the blonde hadn't dropped dead yet, then again he had always been a stubborn son of a bitch.

He poured out a cup of coffee and brought it over to him.

Mello stuck out his hand to accept the coffee. He was forced to sit up in order to drink. A long draught was taken, but Mello still came away grimacing. "You didn't put sugar in it."

'Some things never change,' he thought with amusement. A few packets of sugar were tossed in Mello's direction.

Suddenly, from the doorway, came several loud groans and several even louder thumps. The team had apparently finished unpacking.

Iggy, Pip, and Mika wandered into Matt and Mello's room not long after their noisy entrance. Each teen looked more tired that the last.

"Can we take a break now?" Mika asked, nearly bent in half. His back was killing him.

"Fine, fine," Mello said in between sips of coffee. "Go get some sleep."

"Who's going to set up, then?" Pip asked.

"I will," the blonde replied. "I'm not tired anyway." With that smooth lie, Mello set his empty coffee mug in Matt's hands and went out to deal with their stuff.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna go pass out." Mika gave an overly tired smile and went in search of a bed to sleep in. Matt turned to Pip and Iggy, "What about you guys? Gonna go rest too?"

The two of them nodded.  
"I wish I could help, but I can't keep my eyes open..." Pip said with a wide yawn.

Matt ruffled the girl's hair and told her to go lay down. As the others took to their beds, he went out to find Mello. After all, misery loved company right?

Mello was sitting on the couch, pants still unbuttoned, hair a mess, skin sallow, but his eyes were wide with that distinct coffee buzz. The blonde was working at two laptops at once; one set on his thighs, the other on the coffee table. He managed to comment as Matt entered. "I thought for sure you'd get some sleep like the rest of 'em," Mello said without looking up from his work.

"Now why would I do that and leave you out here by your lonesome?" The redhead sat down on the couch and pulled out his PSP.

"No, no, no," Mello said quickly. "Put that thing away. Get out the other laptops and start programming. You're the computer buff here, not me."

Matt groaned, but got up to do it anyway. Better to do it now then be bitched out for not doing it later.

"Good boy," Mello said, and returned to his typing.

~*~

The two worked in silence for the better part of the morning -- it was 5:30am when they had started, after all. Each laptop had to be re-programmed with all of the information that the others had previously wiped in preparation for the flight. Firewalls and passwords then had to be re-done. Mello thought that the HTML would never cease.

Finally, at a quarter to nine, Matt pushed the last of the laptops aside and stood, stretching. "C'mon, Mello," he said. "We need a catnap or SOMETHING. I'm gonna die."

Mello blinked up at him over the top of his screen. "Yeah, I'll be there in a minute."

"No, come on now." Matt went over to Mello, prepared to drag him if need be. "Come on, you look like death."

Mello shook his head and leaned in closer to the computer screen. His sight was getting a bit fuzzy from lack of blinking. "One minute," he repeated.

"Alright then, have it your way," the redhead said with a shrug. With a quick swipe, Matt yanked the computer away from the blonde mid-type.

Mello made a blind grab for the laptop, but ended up toppling over and landing on the floor in a heap. His legs were somehow above his head, which nicely displayed the fact that his clothing had diminished to nothing but boxer shorts.

"Oh la la! I see London, I see France, huh Mel?" Matt snickered and shut the lid of the laptop and set it down. "Let's go get some shut eye. You can finish when you wake up."

Mello glared sleepily, still managing to appear threatening even when he was upside-down and in need of a shower. "Fine, alright. But you're going to have to fucking carry me. I've lost the will to move." Of course, as Mello's sarcasm skills would have it, there was no way to tell if he was being serious.

Well, Matt HAD wanted Mello to quit working. This was what happened. Still, they were both gonna finally get some sleep so it was alright.

"Okay then." Matt stomped over to Mello and pulled him up so that he was right-side up at least. He slid an arm around the blonde's shoulders and another under his knees and smoothly lifted him up. Wedding style.

Mello slapped a sleepy palm to his face. "Well aren't I the perfect picture of a blushing bride," he grumbled. Being carried over the threshold and everything. Well, shit.

Matt started to hum the wedding march under his breath with a wide smile. It was too easy to tease Mello when he was half dead.

The blonde rolled his eyes and rested his head on Matt's shoulder. "Just put me down, idiot. I can walk."

"Yeah, I'm sure. You'd fall flat on your face."

Mello struggled weakly against the hold and managed to get himself back on his own two feet just as they entered the bedroom. Without possessing the will to walk across the room, however, Mello fell into the bed that Matt had previously called dibs on.

'Nice one Mel,' he thought as he pulled off his boots. He tugged off his goggles and his shirt and sat on the bed that would have been Mello's.  
"And YOU wanted to keep working..."

Mello ran a hand over his face and rolled onto his side to look at his friend. "Well I was almost finished..."

"Whatever you say, Mr. Boss-man Sir." Matt mockingly saluted the other man before lying down. He could barely repress a pleased sigh at the feeling of the soft blankets and mattress.

"Matt," Mello said.

"Hmmm?"

"You didn't turn off the light."

"I really don't care."

But the blonde had already fallen asleep.

"You know," Matt said to the blonde's unconscious form, "I really did miss this. It's good to be back."  
He closed his eyes and drifted off into the best sleep he'd had in days.

~*~

Mello did not use alarm clocks. Hell, he rarely slept, so he saw no need. He hated being awoken by the irritating drone of some machine's programmed buzzer. It always got him off to a bad start. But, again, Mello did not use alarm clocks, so he didn't have to worry.  
However, it was no treat to be awoken by the chatter of your mates and the smell of burgers...

The blonde awoke with a start, realizing that he had slept till noon.

"Balls... Shit..." Mello cursed under his breath as he threw on clothes. "Why the fuck didn't anyone wake me up?" he said as he came out into the kitchen. Everyone was sitting around eating McDonalds. God damn.

"Sorry, didn't wanna wake you." Mika took a big bite out of his Big Mac. "Ya looked so peaceful."

Mello rolled his eyes; he was anything but peaceful now. He hated being the last one up.

Matt took a drink of his pop and cocked a brow at the moody blond, "You can't tell me that sleeping in for a little bit didn't feel good."

Mello ignored Matt's comment and crossed his arms. "So tell me, what have you guys gotten done?"

"Well," Mika started, swallowing the last bit of his food, "we finished reprogramming the computers and uploaded all the necessary data."

"That's all?" Mello said, tapping a foot. "That's maybe an hour and a half of work."

Pip handed the leader a stack of papers. "Me and Matt were working on hacking into the Kira's Kingdom mainframe. Here's the information we have so far."

Matt watched the blond flipping through the papers. "What do you think?"

Mello gave a little smirk just to Matt and sat himself down in one of the armchairs. "Good work. Are you being sure to keep your tracks clean?"

"Of course, what do you think I am? Some kind of amateur?" Matt placed a feigned hand of hurt to his chest.

"Just making sure. Pip," he said, "make sure you're learning a little something from him." With that said Mello grabbed one of the laptops and headed back into the bedroom.

Kira's Kingdom... Mello was still turning the show over in his head as he settled into bed with the laptop. The information that Pip and Matt collected said that Kira's Kingdom was having a tour-the-studio date soon. This could give his team the chance to get their hands on something really useful...more useful than mismatched data collected from hijacked links to the institution's database.

But then again, Mello thought, why wait? He had had enough of waiting. Something needed to happen. And soon. Mello got the feeling that Kira wouldn't want to keep his prisoners alive much longer…

~*~

"Heh heh, they sure do like you around here, Raito. Look at 'em all...screaming."

Light Yagami looked out of the corner of his eye to smirk silently at the shinigami. Yes, of course they loved him. He was their God. Their Kami. Their Kira. He was liberating them; one by one, name by name. And as Kira raised his hand to wave at his populous from up high in the safety of his guarded balcony, the resounding wave of noise and declarations of love hit the young man like a blast of welcome hot air.

"Come, Ryuk," Light said as he turned away from the people below him. He had taken to speaking to the shinigami as if it were his pet. Well, Light supposed, Ryuk was more of a dog than he was a God of Death lately.

"Where're we goin', Raito?" Ryuk asked.

Kira's dastardly smirk was immediate. "Oh you'll see."

It was lucky that Light was never followed by his bodyguards while in his own home; no one needed to know about his habit of talking to himself. Of course, he wasn't REALLY talking to thin air, but the idiots that had been hired to protect him would not have known what else to think.

Light led Ryuk down the familiar path to the 13th floor to room 688. A thumb was pressed to the correct pad outside of the door, and Light's right eye was held wide open before the scanner. Even after that, a pass-code was entered and, finally, two solid metal doors slid open.

Mikami stood from his seat immediately when he heard the doors open; he knew that the only person to be visiting the keep at this time of day would have to be his god.

Light cocked an eyebrow at Mikami; a tad caught off-guard by the man's unexpected presence. "Mikami? I didn't expect to find you here. I thought you would still be in bed." The amber-haired man smirked.

"I had come down to check on your 'guests', Kami." The raven haired man tured to face the one way mirror that filled up almost one entire wall. Behind that mirror sat N himself. Mikami glared at the smaller man through the glass. He had wondered to himself more then a few times why his god would keep his enemy alive. If he killed him then there would be no true threat left standing in his way, but he would not question his god.

Kira followed Mikami's gaze to the crouched figure slumped in the corner of his cell. The boy's hair was visibly longer than it had been when he arrived, and his once-clean, white clothes were now a bit soiled and tarnished. Near was truly falling. Bit by bit, and piece by piece.

It was with a smirk that Light Yagami pressed the button on the intercom. "Good afternoon, Near. How are you feeling today?"

Near didn't even move.

Light merely spoke again, "I said, how are you feeling, Near? Well, no matter. I just thought that I would inform you that Rester's body has been properly disposed of. We paid him what respect was owed and fed his body to dogs."

Near continued to ignore him, despite the definite twinge of his brow. He refused to give the killer the pleasure by showing a reaction to the statement. As much as he wanted to jump to his feet and tear his way through that glass, Near held his ground.

Kira chuckled darkly. "I can see you gritting your teeth and balling your fists, Near. Your dear mentor L had the same habit when trying to hold in his frustrations."

"What is it that you want from me Light Yagami?" the small man asked, his voice barely a whisper.

"You know what I want."

Near brought his head up and stared straight at his own pathetic reflection in the mirror, his face unreadable. "If you are as all powerful as you want the world to believe you are then you should already know."

"Nah, ah, ah, both you and I know that I need a name and a face. I know his face, but not his name. For that, I need what's in your head."

Near turned away and tucked his knee up underneath his chin. "If you so badly want what's in my head, then you may as well cut it off and look for yourself." His face remained blank.

"Don't tempt me, Near." Kira lifted his finger from the intercom button and the connection went dead.

A small sigh escaped the white-haired young man's lips before he laid his head back down. Kira wouldn't kill him, not yet. Not when he still had the information Kira so badly desired. Until that moment he would be kept in this box. For a fraction of a second the thought of death soothed him. He pushed that feeling aside. He refused to let himself break.

Light's expression was stony as he crossed his arms, still staring at Near. Why was the little fucker still protecting Mello? Mello had obviously abandoned Near, so why the self-sacrifice? Well of course, the albino annoyance was just trying to keep himself alive. It wasn't about self-sacrifice, it was about insurance. "I might have to kill the others..." Light muttered under his breath. His gaze found the windows opening into the cages of Halle and Gevanni; they each looked just about as lively as their leader.

"Whatever you think is best, Kami," Mikami stated, bowing his head slightly.

Light sighed and turned to look at his servant. "Come here, Mikami." He waved the man closer.

"Y-yes Kami…" Mikami drew as close as he dared.

A golden hand brushed against Mikami's pale cheek, a thumb tracing the delicate curve of the man's mouth. "I need you to do whatever you have to get Mello's name from him, Mikami," Light whispered in his ear. "It is of vital importance that Mello dies. Near as well. But Near can't die until Mello does. Can you do this for me, Mikami?" Kira expertly placed his other hand at the man's waist to tease the spot that he knew to be most sensitive.

Mikami bit his lip, his eyes going wide as his god touched him; he could feel himself heat up at the sensation caused by those hands. His mind became one track; he only wanted to make this man happy. He would do anything for him. His god-Kira. "Of course Kami, anything you say."

Light smiled with his pearl-white teeth and manipulative eyes. "Good. Go in there and see what you can do." His lips brushed along Mikami's jaw-line ever-so-slightly.

He felt the heat rush thru him; he nodded. Then-as much as he didn't want to-he stepped away from Kira and walked through a set of double doors into Near's cell.

Light slid a desk chair over and took a front-row seat to Mikami's "creative" form of interrogation (which involved few articles of clothing and many muffled screams). Just as he was getting into the thrill of watching Near flinch at the mere sight of his interrogator, Ryuk broke his concentration.

"Y'know, Light, all these years and I've never seen you touch males the way you touch Mikami," the shinigami said. "Like last night. I didn't know that humans could bend that way."

Light cringed. "It's sickening to know how closely you pay attention. You never watch me have sex with Misa or Takada."

"Yeah, cause that's the normal, boring stuff." Ryuk waved a dismissive hand.

"And watching me have sex with men isn't boring?"

"No."

"Why not?" Light cocked an eyebrow at the monstrosity.

"Cause humans are supposed to have sex with the other gender. It was only until you started battling L that this whole...gay thing came up."

Kira laughed under his breath. "Oh, L. He was surprisingly easy to manipulate. One touch was all I needed."

"So this is about manipulation?" Ryuk asked.

"Oh course. I wouldn't be bothering with even Takada or Misa if it weren't for the fact that I need them." Light shrugged and returned his attention to the display taking place in Near's cell.

"Hyuk, hyuck," Ryuk cackled. "Humans are so interesting."

~*~

Cold night air was blowing in through the open windows of the anti-Kira task force's hotel suite. The air was there to both dispell the smell of coffee that hung heavy in the room, as well as to cool the tempers of some of the occupants.

Everyone was tired and feeling gradually more in-over-their-heads. The only break they had managed to come by was the worm-hole that Pip and Matt had dug into the Kira's Kingdom secret database. At the moment, Pip was scouring their progress for anything useful.

Matt scrolled through another page and groaned. Nothing. THere was next to nothing useful to be found. They were being smart, Matt had to admit; they were locking up every last piece confidential information extra tight.

He looked over at Pip as he lit up a cigarette, "Find anything yet, Pip?"

Pip ran a hand through her cropped hair and sighed. "No --" The girl froze, eyes wide.

Matt sat up straight as he saw the girl's reaction. "What is it?! What did you find?"

Pip hasitily thrust her screen under Matt's nose. "I'm such a moron! I didn't even think to look in the unrestricted section!"

From the other end of the room, Mello was watching the two intently. "What are you squealing about, Pip? What did you find?"

Matt read down the page, spotting what was making Pip so excited. His brows shot up in surprise; how could they have missed looking there. "Mello, come check this out."

Mello, brow furrowed, went over to the redhead. "What is it?" He quickly scanned the page, his mouth falling open. "A tour of Kira's very own kingdom," he read. "...$3,000, Matt? This tour costs $3,000." But, shit, it would be so perfect... Such an easy way in, and right at Kira's invitation.

The red head took a deep drag and nodded. Three thousand dollars was quite a bit of money, especially for their little task force. Not to mention the pretty penny they had already spent on airfare to Japan. "What can we do? How can we get that kind of money, I mean it's three grand PER PERSON."

Mello was nibbling on his usual piece of chocolate, but this time it came with more anxiety than usual. "My inheritance," he said finally. When L died, a large sum of money was placed in both Mello and Near's personal accounts. Mello had sworn not to touch the money unless need called for it. And, boy, was it calling for it now. "Order two spots on the tour," he said to Matt.

"Who gets to go, Mello?" Iggy asked.

"Pip and Mika will play the parts of invited guests. Iggy, you'll run surveillance. Get your shit together, guys, we've got a lot of planning to do." Mello went over to the window and began to pace.

This was the opening he had been waiting for. Unfortunately, it opened right in on the lion's den. Mello would just have to do what he could to insure that they all made it out  
alive...


	6. Too Easy

A/N: You guys are gonna like this one. It has some slash in it....FINALLY! So me and Dukki just finished writing this one-well actually _re_-writing this. That's besides the point though. We are on winter break so we will try and update as often as we can. Your guys support is very encouraging. So here's chapter 6, enjoy!

Disclaimer: We only own the OC's.

* * *

Chapter Six -- Too Easy

Mello had set up camp on one of the two couches in the suite's living room. A set of large headphones were perched on his head, the microphone set up in front of his chocolate-filled mouth. This was the part he had missed; the action. Sadly enough, however, this was not going to be his adventure, but instead his rookies'.

Matt was busy trying to coach the kids on what exactly they were supposed to be doing.

"Alright guys," he said facing the two teens, "here's how it's gonna go down. Mika, you and Pip are gonna go on the tour and when you get in you'll have to do your best to sneak away from the group without being noticed and head for the main guard station. If our sources are correct, there are six guard stations in total, so make sure you're on the third floor before you go busting in.

"After that you'll use these little babies," he held up a small electronic device no bigger then a small hair clip, "to make a blind-spot in their security cameras viewing arc. Then you can find a way into the surveillance room and bug it like I showed you. Please try not to get killed."

He pushed his hair back out of his face and sighed. This would go so much easier if they could just hack their way into Kira's system. The only problem being that the damn thing was more guarded then Fort Knox. _Damn Firewalls_, he thought to himself. He looked back up at the kids. "Do you guys understand the plan?"

"What am _I_ doing?" Iggy said. "You have yet to address my role in all this."

Matt took a cigarette out of his pack and stuck it between his lips.

"You will be playing watch. These guys" he jerked a thumb in Pip and Mika's direction, "will be wired. You'll be able to hear them and talk to them. If you think that the ball's about to drop, you pull out and get back to us ASAP."

Iggy nodded. "Pull out, gotcha. That's something I know how to do," he said with a chuckle.

"Don't be an asshole, Iggy," Mello barked from the couch. "This is serious. You saw how easily Kira killed Rester. He could do the same to your friends if you don't shape up." Normally, Mello liked Iggy's easy-going way of doing things, but the situation was too stressful for anything resembling humor.

Iggy hung his head slightly. "Yes sir..."

Matt lit his smoke and sighed. He wished that they had a better way of doing this. After all, these were just kids. They could get killed or seriously harmed doing this. There was no backing out now though; they were already in too deep. He took a drag and smiled bitterly.

"Everybody ready?"

The three of them nodded.

Matt pointed to the door. "Then go out there and do your jobs. Remember what I said about not getting yourselves killed."

Pip chuckled dryly and pulled on her coat. "Yeah, thanks Matt."

The three made their way to the parking garage.

Matt flopped back onto the couch as soon as they left.

"Well, this should be fun." he said sarcastically.

Mello rolled his eyes at the redhead. "Oh relax. They'll be fine." He hoped.

"Yeah, I'm sure." He pulled at the headphones on the blonds head and let them snap back.

Mello flinched slightly as the earpiece slapped him on the ear. "Why're you bein' so negative?"

The red head cocked an eyebrow at his friend, "I'm just being realistic. They are just kids Mel, not trained operatives."

"Well neither was I on my first mission," Mello said with a snap of his chocolate bar. "Pip's got a gun AND a tranquilizer on her, and Mika's a wiz at hand-to-hand. They'll be fine."

_Well shit_, Mello thought, _since when was I an optimist?_

Matt smiled – weakly, but for real this time -- and nodded.

Mello returned the nod and shifted his attention to his laptop. According to the GPS systems in both of the team's cars, they were five minutes away from their destination.

Matt leaned back and blew smoke at the ceiling. He's play his PSP if he could; the battery had died earlier in the day and it was still charging. He huffed and scooted closer to Mello so he could see the screen of his laptop.

Mello glanced at Matt and moved the computer to rest on both of their knees.

"Iggy," the blonde said into the mic, "make sure you stick close to them, but not too close. We don't want people knowing that you're following them."

"Roger that, Mel," Iggy replied.

Mika and Pip had taken the Eclipse while Iggy was in the Toyota.

Matt looked down at the screen and saw that the cars were getting closer to their location.

"Holy shit-!" Mika exclaimed.

"What is it, Mika?" Matt asked, grabbing Mello's microphone and dragging it over. They couldn't have gotten in trouble already, could they?! They weren't even at the house yet!

"There's this huge crowd of people, thousands of them," Mika said.

_Kira followers most likely_, the redhead thought to himself. That would actually make this easier. If there were as many people out there as Mika claimed, then security would have no choice but to spread out. It would work to their advantage.

"Well what did you expect, Mika?" Mello said, grabbing the headset back from Matt. "A chance to get into Kira's home? Shit, there's gotta be billions of people out there that would jump at the chance. Just keep your wits, guys. You'll be able to blend in with the crowd. The cameras will be focused on the important areas of Kira's mansion."

"Just get this done as soon as possible. In and out," Matt said grabbing the headset back, making Mello glare at him, "the quicker you get this done the quicker we can knock Kira off his pedestal."

"Roger that," Pip said, her voice the calmest out of all of them. "We can do this, guys, don't worry." She offered Mika a soft smile.

"Hey guys," said Iggy's voice in their ears. "I'm gonna try to find a place to park and set up. Be careful, ok?"

"You got it Iggy. You be careful too," Pip said.

Mika pulled into one of the few available spots and parked the car. He turned to Pip with a determined look on his face, "You ready?"

Pip nodded. "More than. Let's go." She slipped her bag of tricks over her shoulder and hopped out.

Mika took a deep breathe, mentally preparing himself and hopped out of the car too. They began to make their way into the crowd, trying to stay close to one another.

Pip unconsciously grasped Mika's hand, squeezing tight against the nerves that were shaking her stomach.

"Guys, they'll be admitting people in about ten minutes. Station yourselves somewhere in the middle of the crowd," Mello instructed. He handed Matt his own headset so that they didn't have to sit there with their heads smashed together anymore.

He stuck the headset on with a serious look on his face. This was it; they were about to enter Kira's home.

"Remember to blend. You're there for the tour so pretend to be excited. We don't want to arose suspicion."

Pip plastered a grin on her face and tried to disguise her wide-eyed apprehension for wide-eyed amazement.

Mika was about to say something when one of the fans in the crowd ran into him, nearly knocking him to the ground. The taller boy growled, "That might be a little hard; these people are insane! How can they believe in this guy?"

Matt sighed on his end and rubbed at his temples. "Just try Mika. Think happy thoughts and all that shit."

Mello ran a hand through his hair and reached around Matt for another chocolate bar.

Matt grabbed the chocolate bar before Mello could reach it. He leveled a questioning look at the blonde. "Hey, are you alright Mel? You aren't really acting like yourself."

Mello nodded, sighing. "Just wishing I was out there with them, I guess."

Matt chuckled at that. "Going stir crazy?"

Mello gave him a wane smile. "Something like that."

The gamer gave his friend a playful shove and smiled.

"Chill. You'll get your chance to get out there soon."

Mello rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah? If you had your way, I'd never see a day of action again."

"Not true....you'd shoot me before I could do anything."

Mello chuckled and clapped Matt on the shoulder. "That's right, man."

Matt smiled and leaned back.

"So what should we do now while we wait for them to report back?"

"Well I ain't giving you a lap dance to pass the time so you can forget about that," Mello said gruffly.

"Oh darn."

Mello chuckled and rolled his eyes.

Matt snickered and nudged the blond with his elbow. "Come on, I'm bored. I need SOME kind of stimulation."

Mello cocked an eyebrow. "You must be a better actor than I thought. A minute ago you were chomping at the bit with nerves."

The redhead shrugged and began to peel at the wrapping of the chocolate bar still in his hands.

"Hey, you gonna hand that over or what?"

An evil thought began to seep into Matt's head. He smiled. "What if I don't want to?" He put the chocolate to his mouth and pretended to take a bite.

Mello scowled and held out his hand. "Here you go again trying to assert your nonexistent authority. Now hand over the damn chocolate."

Matt took a bite out of the bar.

"You little bitch," Mello snapped. He set aside the laptop and moved his headset around his neck.

_Oh shit_, Matt jumped up out of his seat and ran, grinning, into their shared room.

Mello grit his teeth and followed Matt into their room. "Matt, I have no interest in entertaining you as if you were a five year old." The slender blonde placed his hands on his hips.

"Says the grown man getting mad about me taking away his candy."

"You're the one who took it in the first place!"

Matt stood on the other side of the room and thought about that for a minute, "...touche."

He bit off another piece.

"So don't keep eating it!" Mello made a grab for the half-eaten bar.

Matt held the bar out of reach of the manic blond.

"You got a death wish, Jeevas!" Mello caught his leg around Matt's and pulled him to the ground. One of his hands grasped a fistful of Matt's shirt; the other snatched back his chocolate. His legs were in a very compromising position around either side of Matt's hips. Ignoring the fact that he was now straddling the redhead, he said, "Now then, since we BOTH know I can kick your ass, what'd you say we go back to monitoring the baby ducks?"

Matt glared at the blond man on top of him. He looked down and noticed how Mello was positioned. He brought up his knee in between the blond's legs and grinned evilly. "They're not screaming so I don't think there's any reason to go back _right _this minute."

Mello's pupils seemed to shrink. "What the fuck are you doing now?"

"You started it." Matt said, referring to the position the blond had put himself in.

Mello rolled his eyes. "What're you tryin' to do?"

Matt snickered and grabbed Mello's shirt, "Maybe I'm trying to release some of that 'sexual frustration' you keep saying I'm suffering from."

"Well this is hardly the time to do it, Jeevas."

The red head loosened his grip on the others top, "Then why haven't you gotten off me already, Keehl?"

Mello blinked. The fuck was Matt trying to do? "Matt, you're acting stupid," he said, making to get up.

"You would know...." Matt muttered, sitting up slightly.

Mello stopped and put his weight back on Matt's waist. "So you're admitting it, then?"

"Only if you are."

Mello smirked. "So you're trying to seduce me?"

Matt cocked an eyebrow at that, "Now what could have led you to that thought? For all you know I could have just been trying to piss you off." Now he was smirking too.

"Or you could just be talking me in circles as usual." Mello smacked Matt lightly on the side of the head.

"The world may never know...."

"Then let's get back to work, shall we?"

Matt chuckled and leaned close to Mello, "Do lets, but you'll have to get up first. Unless-" the red head wiggled his eye brows suggestively.

"Unless what?" Mello huffed. "Unless I do...this?" The blonde leaned in closer, letting his breath tickled the other boy's lips.

Matt smiled slightly and leaned in to close the gap between their lips.

Mello's eyes widened minutely; he hadn't thought that Matt would actually go through with it...

After a moment, the blonde pulled away. "C'mon, Jeevas, we have work to do. Enough stupid games." Before Matt could say anything more, Mello got to his feet and made for the living room. What the fuck had that been about...?

Mello plopped back onto the sofa and plugged his headphones in. "Are you guys alright?" he said into the mic.

"Yeah, we're alright..." Pip whispered. "We just finished seeing all three of Kira's fucking ballrooms."

"Dude has way too much money." Mika added. They were making their way with the rest of the group toward the main dining hall. They had yet to find a way to ditch the rest of the group, there were guards walking with them most of the way.

"How are you guys holding up?"

Mello shot a quick glare to Matt. "We're fine."

Matt lit another cigarette and inhaled deeply; he needed the nicotine buzz. He pulled the headphones up to hear what was going on.

"Shit..." Pip cursed softly from the other end.

"What? What?" Mello said quickly.

"The tour doesn't cover the third floor... Apparently, that's his private floor..."

"Damn it!" Mello slammed his fist on the table.

"Guys, guys, it's ok!" Iggy said over the line. He was madly clicking away through floor plans.

"You can sneak through the small stairway coming up on your right and up to the third floor!"

"Are any of his guards nearby?" Matt asked suddenly. Mika sighed and confirmed the red head's guess.

"Is there any way you could draw their attention away to allow for you guys to get over there?"

"Use the gas bombs," Mello said quickly. "Slip one into someone's pocket or something and it'll go off. All the guards will rush to you, and you guys can make your way to the third floor."

"That'll draw a lot of attention, boss," Mika muttered into his mic.

"Do it Mika, we need that information!"

The tall blond nudged Pip and nodded for her get out one of the bombs.

Pip was way ahead of them. Being small and lithe, no one noticed as she slipped the gas bomb into an elderly woman's purse. "C'mon," she whispered to Mika. "We should be closer to the stairs when it goes off." She grabbed him by the hand and pulled him out of the way.

Mika nodded and followed after the girl. A minute later bomb went off in a violent explosion of noise and smoke. The woman screamed and fell to the ground, flinging her purse. The guard standing sentinel rushed over quickly. The crowd began to panic; it was the perfect distraction.

As the large men rushed past with their gun at the ready, Pip made a break for the stairs with Mika on her heels.

"Alright, we got away," Mika said into his mic. Matt furrowed his brow, why did it seem like that worked far too well...? He shook his head and pushed the thought to the back of his mind. They were in, that was all that mattered right now.

"Shit, spoke too soon..." said Pip.

As they had rounded a corner onto the third floor, two guards running their way stopped short.

"Hey!" the fat one barked. "You can't be up here!"

Pip and Mika exchanged looks. "Well?" Pip said. "Which one do you want?"

"Ladys first." Mika said giving the girl a cocky smile.

Pip rolled her eyes and whipped out her her sparring staff. It was collapsible and fit nicely in her pocket. She set herself on attacking the skinnier of the two guards, whom she caught off guard. In no time, the poor sucker was passed out cold on the ground.

Mello leaned back in his seat and draped his arm over the back. He wasn't fool enough to believe that things could be this easy.

"What do'ya think, Matt? Think they'll actually make it?" the blonde said casually. He was running his tongue over his chocolate bar.

Matt was silent. He was thinking. What was going on here? This was KIRA they were talking about here; they shouldn't be getting away with this. This shouldn't be happening.

"Shit..." he muttered, taking a drag.

"I know, right? It seems too easy... Could Kira really be this lax in security?" Mello said quietly. Something was up. He knew it. This wasn't Kira's style, to let things happen so easily right under his nose… There would be ramifications, but Mello was good at thinking on his feet.


	7. Downtime

A/N: Alright, here's chapter seven and the long awaited lemon. This chapter was the reason why I have it rated M. This is the chapter were Matt and Mello finally get it on. Now, I'm not really in a good mood right now so, I'll just finish this right now.

**WARNING:**** This chapter contains adult situations that may not be suitable for all readers. If you can not handle that then please just skip this chapter.**

Disclaimer: We only own the OC's.

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**Chapter Seven -- Downtime **

Just as Mello had feared, the infiltration of the third-floor guard station went off without a hitch. Neither operative had been caught, and their bug was placed perfectly. This only meant, in Mello's view, that Kira would strike them twice as hard in the future. Karma was such a bitch.

But the time to worry about that would come later. It was nearing midnight when Mika and Pip managed to contact Mello from a safe distance from Kira's mansion.

"I still can't believe we pulled it off…" Pip panted. She and Mika had hauled ass and ran most of the way back to the car, not that anyone noticed.

"Yeah, you guys did great. We can see every inch of Kira's homestead…well, most of it, anyway…" Mello replied, holding in a yawn; it had been a long day. "You and Mika have a hotel room already rented for you. The GPS will lead you there. You get one too, Iggy," he added to the tech-support.

"What? Another hotel room? Why can't we come back to base?" Iggy griped.

"Because there's always the chance that someone's watching you. I'd rather one of you get kidnapped than the whole team."

Matt chose that moment to chime in. "Mello's paranoid."

Mello grit his teeth against a remark. "Just go get some rest, guys. You deserve it. Over and out." He shut off his connection to the team and removed his headphones, leaning back against the soft pillows of the couch. It would have been so easy just to sleep there.

Matt stretched and pulled off his shirt, preparing to lie down for the night. "Too bad Kira doesn't have cameras set up on the SPK, eh?" he said. They had searched through all the video feed but could not find a connection to the SPK's hidey-hole. "Are you sure they're even there?"

"I'm positive." Mello pushed back his bangs and sighed. "He probably just has those cameras set up on a different circuit than the main security cameras. We'll just have to watch out for any frequent visits he might be making to any particular room."

"Yeah, I guess." Matt wasn't totally sure about that idea. Kira was a tricky bastard; he might just visit the same room continuously just in case there actually WAS someone watching. It was a far-fetched idea, but Matt wouldn't put it past him.

He looked down at Mello lying on the couch. "Are you planning on sleeping there tonight?"  
Mello shook his head and pushed himself to his feet. "Nah, I'm gonna willingly sleep in a bed tonight, believe it or not." The blonde led the way into their bedroom and fell into the bed closest to the door.

'It's a miracle,' Matt thought sarcastically as he watched his friend collapse on the bed. He too flopped into bed right next to Mello and made himself comfortable.

Mello cocked an eyebrow and looked over at the redhead. "The fuck you think you're doin?" he grumbled.

"Lying down, what does it look like?"

"But why are you lying down with ME?" The blonde rolled onto his side, propping his head up on his hand.

Matt turned his head to look at his friend and gave him a tired grin. "Well, technically this was supposed to be MY bed-"

Mello scoffed. "Oh fuck that. I ain't movin." He sat up enough to pull off his shirt.

Matt rolled his eyes. "I really didn't think you would." He pulled off his goggles and tossed them on the ground next to the bed.

Mello set to unlacing his boots. "So... what was up with that kiss earlier?" He figured he might as well ask right away, rather than dancing around the subject all night.

"Hm?" Matt had started to drift off. He cracked open an eye and looked at the blonde.  
"Oh, that... Just wanted to I guess."

"You just wanted to?" Mello repeated, blinking.

"Yep. Why, is that a crime now or something?"

Mello lay back, resting his head on his arm. "I didn't know you were gay," he said softly.

Matt closed his eyes and muttered, "Pansexual."

Mello sniggered and undid his own belt; he usually just slept in his boxers.

Matt huffed, "What's so funny?"

"Just can't picture you fuckin a dude," the blonde said with a shrug. He tossed aside his belt and his pants.

Matt groaned at Mello's comment and turned to lie on his side. Why was that such a hard thing to picture? He felt the mattress dip a little as the blonde finally laid down.

Mello rested his head on Matt's chest and closed his eyes. "Good night."

Matt felt his face heat up a little as Mello shifted to get himself comfortable. He smiled and let out a contented sigh. "G'night Mel."

Mello peeked up at him. "You seem WAY to comfortable with the arrangement, Mail," he teased softly.

Matt blushed, "I have no idea what you could be talking about."

Mello sniggered. "Oh c'mon, you know you're getting all hot-and-bothered with me lying here like this." The blonde smirked at a sudden thought; why not test and see just how "pansexual" Matt really was?

Opening both his eyes, Mello lightly ran his fingers over Matt's chest, stopping just above the top of the redhead's pants. "I'm sure you're even getting hard right now. Wouldn't surprise me one bit if you were."

It was probably a good thing that the room was dark. Matt didn't think he could bear to see Mello's satisfied smirk. "W-what the hell are you trying to pull, Mello?"

Mello sat up a bit, smirking down at Mello. Oh yeah, this would be fun. "You're the one who started it with your little submissive noises." The blonde leaned in and nibbled gently on Matt's ear, his hand still running laps on the man's chest.

The red head bit his lip, trying to keep himself from letting out any kind of noise. Matt had decided on his sexuality a while ago, but since when was Mello into this kind of stuff?!

"Mel…"

"Yes?" Mello purred.

"G-get off."

Mello's brow furrowed. "But why? You're already pitching a tent." He sniggered and ran one finger over the zipper of Matt's jeans.

Matt looked up at the self-satisfied smirk on Mello's face and groaned. Fuck, this wasn't the way it should have gone. Mello was just taking advantage of his tired form. "Look, if you're gonna do something-"

"Are you saying I should just do it?"

"Fuck." Matt ran a hand through his hair, "Since when were you gay, Mel?"

Mello chuckled breathily against the skin of Matt's neck before pulling away. "I'm not. Never done anything with a dude before. Just testin' the waters."

'Of course,' Matt thought to himself. Mello WOULD play his games with him. "You're a fuckin' tease..."

Mello frowned and removed his hand. "Well if you don't want me to tease you, fine, I won't." The blonde rolled onto his side, away from Matt, and feigned sleep.

'Oh you little bitch,' Matt thought, now thoroughly flustered. This HAD to be pay back from earlier, it just had to be. "That's not cool Mello, not cool," he said, about to get up and go to the bathroom.

Mello's smirk returned but he didn't roll over. "Think about me while you're jacking off, eh?"

"I plead the fifth..."

Mello rolled onto his back with one hand on his chest, the other above his head. "Oh so you WILL be thinking of me? How cute."

Matt opened his mouth to retort, but thought better of it. Anything he said right now would just get all twisted around by Mello. He walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

Mello lay there for a moment, nibbling on his pinkie nail. That had gone better than he planned, he thought with a grin. He had known from Matt's first day back that the redhead was harboring some sort of feelings... but the fact that he responded so easily to Mello's touch was highly amusing. This could be fun.

A while later a flush was heard from the bathroom and Matt came back out, buttoning his pants back up. He looked over at Mello on his bed, and walked over to lay on his own. Fool me once...

Mello looked over at Matt, still biting on his fingernail. "All better?"

Matt turned over to face the wall, refusing to answer. His face was turning red.

Noiselessly, Mello got up from his bed and went over to Matt, putting his hand on the redhead's shoulder. "Hey, don't be mad at me..." he said softly."I was just teasing you."

"Yeah, teasing. I know," he murmured.

Mello sighed and ran his hand down the length of Matt's arm.

Matt glanced over his shoulder at the blonde, "I thought you were tired." he stated softly, the ghost of something close to a smile growing on his face.

Mello shrugged offhandedly. "What if I'm not any more?"

"Then you get to listen to me snore." Matt let out an unnecessarily loud snore as an example.

Mello frowned; he wasn't about to let himself be snubbed. As Matt began to think he was off the hook, Mello put his hand on the redhead's ass. "We're not sleeping yet. We need our exercise."

Matt's eyes shot open at the feeling of his ass being groped. He quickly turned over and tried to grab at Mello's hands. "Oh, do we now?"

"Mhm." Mello smirked and slapped Matt's intercepting hands away. He began to tease the growing bulge in the redhead's jeans.

The red head couldn't stop himself this time. A low moan escaped his throat as he felt Mello's hand move.

"Oh, you like that?"

"W-what the hell d-do you think?" he shifted slightly, trying to get more contact.

Mello moved on top of Matt, pinning him down. He worked blindly at removing the other man's pants. "You're the girl."

Matt thought about that for a moment. Now he COULD push Mello off the bed and go to sleep or he could sit here and enjoy it. 'Him and his inferiority complex...'  
"Whatever, Mel."

"Hey, don't make me do all the work here. Take your damn pants off." Mello sat back enough so that he could watch Matt strip himself. It was weird how much he himself was enjoying this…

Matt quickly unbuttoned and unzipped his pants and pushed them down. He was left wearing only his boxers like Mello.

Mello put his hand to Matt's thigh. "Very nice, Matt," he said, meaning Matt's body. He took a moment to look over the redhead's flesh before cocking his head to the side; he was thinking now.

Matt saw this; it was worrying. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure how I wanna go about this. I could do it quickly and give you what you want--" he grasped Matt's length through his boxers "-- or if I want to do it slowly."

Matt groaned as his friends hand grabbed at him. At this point he just didn't really care what the other man did, he just wanted him to do it!

Mello smirked and watched Matt's weak attempts to bring himself pleasure. "Shit, Matt, if I knew you were this much of a slut, I would have brought a ball-gag with me," he teased.

"Shut the fuck up and get on with it already. Too much talking is a turn off."

Mello shrugged and tore off Matt's boxers. Feather-light touches gave way to heavy strokes, which brought nothing but moans from the redhead.

'How far am I going to take this?' Mello was wondering. He knew that he had passed the point of no return, and what he had started he had to finish. But just HOW he wanted to finish it was the question.

Matt was breathing heavy now, it felt damn good. The only thing that was creeping him out was the fact that, well, this was MELLO. They had grown up together. This shouldn't have even been happening. But it was, and he wasn't gonna stop it. He moaned again and bit his lip.

Mello felt himself growing hard and grit his teeth; it was awful to realize that he was as easily turned on as Matt was. But Mello managed to keep his ego intact by ignoring his hard-on and focusing on the writing man beneath him.

Hips were ground together in equal rhythm, which brought muted groans from both young men. They still weren't sure why this game had started, but to stop now was, again, impossible.

Matt hissed at the press of his hips against the blondes, he hadn't felt this good in a while. This was the closest he and Mello had been since he had left. "Mello, hurry-" he hissed through his teeth, he was getting close...

"I-It's gonna hurt, yknow..."

"I-I figured as much."

Mello pulled away enough to pull off his boxers. With only a brief kiss as warning, Mello pushed himself inside Matt.

"S-shit..." the blonde said through gritted teeth. Matt was nothing if not tight.

Matt only just bit back a scream. Fuck, he knew that Mello going in dry would hurt, but DAMNIT! He felt the other man push himself in further.

Mello buried his face in Matt's neck as he moved carefully, not wanting to hurt his friend TOO much; time for sadism would come later.

Matt's lip was now bleeding from him biting down so hard. He wrapped his fingers around Mellos blonde locks pulled him close.

"Mel...move a little faster..." he said, giving him a quick kiss.

Mello followed orders for once and pounded deeper into Matt, seeking out the man's spot. His brain was feeling fuzzy, confused, and he knew that hours from now, he would look back on this encounter and wonder 'what the hell was I thinking?'

Matt was seeing stars. He pulled harder at the blonde hair and moaned. "Fuck...ngh...right there Mel..."

Mello just about lost it; the noises that Matt was making were just too seductive. "A-are you close?"

Matt could only nod.

"So soon?" the other teased. Mello had amazing stamina, as it were. With a careful hand, the blonde gripped Matt's length, running his thumb over the tip.

"S-shut up," the red head stuttered with a smile. For his first time being with a guy, Mello was pretty damn good.

Mello smirked and pressed his lips to Matt's in a crushing kiss.

Matt sighed and deepened the kiss.

Teeth bit tongues and lips, drawing beads of blood that only heightened their lust. In no time at all, it was these kisses that eventually brought both men over the edge.

Mello fell, breathing hard, onto Matt's chest. "Well shit..." was all he could think to say.

Matt draped his are over his eyes and grinned, exhausted. "You sure...you haven't done this before?"

Mello sniggered and carefully pulled out of the redhead, instead lying next to him. "Nah, that was my first time with a dude. But I've done it enough times with chicks to figure it out."

"So...you lost your man-virginity to me? Well, that's nice to know."

"Yeah, just don't go braggin'," Mello laughed. He got out of the bed to grab himself a chocolate bar and a cigarette for Matt. "Here," he said, tossing the cig and the lighter to him, "figured you'd like to smoke after sex."

Matt sat up in the bed and lit up the smoke.  
"You know me all too well," he said as he took a deep drag. He started to cough.

Mello rolled his eyes. "Why do you smoke those if all they do is make you gag?"

He tried to catch his breath, "Because it's addictive. And it makes me look cool." He tried to give the blonde a cocky look, but he started to cough again.

Mello only laughed at him. "You've been smoking since you were twelve and you still can't hold your smoke. Go figure." The blonde pulled on his boxers and fell back into bed to eat his chocolate.

Matt took a deep breath before answering, "Dude, I'm just lucky I don't have lung cancer by now." He then took another drag and blew the smoke over at Mello.

Mello made a face and waved his hand around, trying to dissipate the smog. "Keep that shit up and I'm sleepin' in my own damn bed."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." the gamer smiled and started to flip his lighter between his fingers.

Mello leaned back against the headboard, stretching out his long legs. He was silent for several minutes as he at his chocolate treat. They had gone so easily from sex to friendship...the transition was almost seamless. Did that mean they could survive the friends with benefits shit? Mello sure hoped so, because he needed Matt on his team if they ever hoped to catch Kira.

Matt chuckled and tapped the ash onto the floor next to the bed. "What's up? From the smoke coming out of your ears I can see that you're thinking about something."

Mello took a moment to answer. "I'm just thinking about Kira again..." It was the simplest answer he could give.

Matt sighed, "You keep worrying like that you're going end up with an ulcer."

"Hey, fuck you. I have to worry about it. I can't let that bastard win..."

"I know man, I know." He took another drag and let silence fall between them.

After finishing his chocolate, Mello settled back into bed and cuddled up close to Matt's side. "I'm going to sleep now," he announced.

Matt nodded, still smoking. "G'night Mel."

"You're going to sleep now too," the blonde added bossily.

Matt looked down at the blonde and frowned, "Let me finish my smoke first. Geeze..." Matt took another deep drag and snubbed out the burning butt.

Mello offered a smirk and pulled Matt down onto the pillow as well.

"Never took you to be a cuddler Mello."

"Shut up."

Matt complied, but continued to snicker. He pulled himself closer to the blonde and gave a chaste kiss before closing his eyes.  
"Good Night, Mihael."

"Night, Jeevas." Mello closed his eyes in silence for a moment. "Oh, and we're not making a habit out of this cuddling thing."

"Whatever you say Mello, I'm not the cuddler."

"I WILL shoot you."

"If you were going to do that you would have done so by now."


	8. Things Yet To Come

A/N: Another chapter. This one turned out to be one of our longest ones yet: 12 pages! It's a bit of a filler chapter, but it does have quite a few important things happening in it. Fluff, suspicion and the probability of a spy. All the good stuff. :)

Disclaimer: WE ONLY OWN THE OC'S.

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Chapter Eight -- Things Yet To Come

Matt woke up first the next day. The first thing he saw was Mello's blonde hair, and it reminded him of a sunrise. Shit, how stupid was that, eh? Admittedly, Matt was a little surprised to see that Mello was still in bed with him. He really did like to cuddle, huh? He'd have to keep that in mind for later use.

Matt carefully pushed Mello's arm off his chest and scooted out of bed. He made his way to the bathroom. Everything that Mello had played with last night was sore... 'Note to self' he thought to himself, 'buy lube.'

Mello rolled over, giving a slightly disgruntled whine when he realized he was suddenly alone in the bed. The blonde blinked for a moment, confused. "Matt?" he called.

"In here!" the other called from amidst the fall of water against skin and the shower wall.

Mello hauled himself out of bed and glanced at the clock as he made his way to the bathroom. Good, it was only 9am. They hadn't wasted too much time sleeping, then.

"We need to get online soon," Mello said, sitting himself down on the counter top, still naked, and leaning against the foggy mirror. "The others should be calling for further instruction soon."

"Yeah, I know," Matt said. The noise of the water ceased as Matt shook droplets from his eyes and groped around for his towel. They would really have to get down to work now that they had the right information to work with. He wrapped the towel around his waist and stepped out of the shower.

"Awful quick shower. You usually take forever," Mello said lightly, teasing. He figured he might as well take advantage of the sleepy, casual situation before the work began and stress set in.

"Hey, it takes time to look this good." He struck a pose, the towel sliding down his hips, something that did not go unnoticed by Mello. "Besides I wanted to get an early start. I wanted to make sure that this stuff we got from Kira's computer is legit." He went back over to his stuff and started to grab some clothes out of his bag.

Mello too began to dress in his usual getup; black pants and something tight up top.

"You know," Matt started as he pulled on his boxers and pants, "I'm kinda surprised that the kids haven't called already."

"Yeah me too..." Mello said. He brought his hand to his lips and chewed on a finger nail. It seemed he had developed a new habit. "I'll go call them." In truth, he was now starting to get worried.

"Hope they're alright..." Matt pulled his striped shirt over his head and followed after Mello. He wanted to hear the call too.

Mello first dialed a connection to Pip and Mika from his computer.

"Hello?" It was Mika who picked up.

"It's Mello. Are you guys alright over there?"

"Yeah, we're fine boss. We just woke up. How are you guys doing? Did anything happen on your end"

Mello smirked at that. "We're fine. We, uh, made progress last night." Of course, the progress had nothing to do with the case itself and more to do with "frustration," if you get my drift...

Matt started to snicker. "Where's Pip?" he said loudly enough for the microphone to pick up his voice.

"I'm here," a sleepy Pip entered the conversation.

Matt smiled. "Morning. You guys ready to come on back?"

"It's safe then?" Pip asked, sounding eager to return to the base.

"Yeah, it should be. Just keep an eye out for cars in your rear view mirror," Mello said.

"Don't worry boss," Mika said, "we'll be careful."

"Good. Call Iggy too and let him know what's up." Mello unwrapped his first chocolate bar of the day and dug in.

"Alright we will. Hey, have you talked with JJ or the others yet?"

"I got an email from Icarus saying that their flight is coming in today. They'll be here soon."

"Good," Mika said, relieved. "It'll be nice to have the whole team back together."

"I know what you mean. Hurry up and get back here, guys." Mello cut the call.

Matt started to make some coffee. "Well this'll be fun, don't you think?"

"Che," Mello scoffed. "Fun? It won't be fun until I get to put a bullet between Kira's fucking eyes."

~*~

It was about noon when the whole of the team was finally conjugated once again.

JJ came bursting through the door demanding to know EXACTLY what she had missed while they had been in England. It took Kai, Icarus and Matt to pry her off of Mello.

They set about explaining the infiltration of Kira's home and how they had managed to hack into the computers.

"You see," Mello said, brushing off the invisible dust that JJ's glomp had left behind, "we managed to secure a connection to the main security cameras, but there are missing pieces. We don't know what's in these two rooms on the fourth floor, or what's in the basement." The blonde pointed to the doorways of each room as he spoke.

"What if they're in the basement?" Kai said quietly. "After all, we already said that Kira had to be keeping them close."

"It's a possibility," Mello said, a finger to his lips. "But I know for a fact that Kira's sleeping quarters are here--" he pointed to the room at the end of the hallway on the fourth floor. "And the other unidentified room is one that he visits...often."

Kai shook his head. "You can't be so sure about that Mello. What if you're wrong?"

Mello gave Kai a hard look; he didn't like being questioned. "Well, keeping his prisoners in the basement would inconvenient. His Highness would have to walk almost a mile every time he wanted to pay a visit."

"A MILE?!" JJ exclaimed loudly. "THAT'S CRAZY!"

Mello winced at the girl's voice. He felt a migraine coming on already...

"Whydoeshehavesuchabighouse?"

"Because he's a rich bastard, that's why, JJ," Matt answered.

"Amen to that," Pip said softly.

Mika smiled down at JJ and ruffled her hair. He then turned to Mello with a serious expression. "So, what's next, boss?"

Mello was leaning against the wall beside the half a dozen TV screens they had hooked up to monitor Kira's every move. He bowed his head, looking down at his shoes as he bit into his chocolate.

"I want a team stationed out front of the Kira's Kingdom station and Kira's mansion at all times," the blonde said to the floor.

"Observation?" Mika guessed.

Matt nodded his head. They needed to keep a close eye on ALL of Kira's movements both inside and outside of his home.

"So, now the question beckons; who'll take first shift?" Mello asked, looking around at all of them.

"I'll go," Kai said, raising a hand.

Mika looked over at him and raised his hand as well. "I'll go too."

JJ looked up at the taller boy and pouted. She grabbed onto his arm and clung to him, worry in her big pretty eyes.

He smiled at the girl. "Don't you worry, I'll be fine."

"Alright," Mello said. "You two will head for the mansion. Who wants the TV station?"

Matt looked over at Mello, then at the kids. "I'll go with one of them."

Pip shrugged. "I'll go too. I'd hate to split up the twins again," she chuckled.

Matt smiled at the girl and nodded. "Seems like you and the twins get the fun job of staying here and observing us, huh Mel?" he said.

Mello chuckled dryly. "The perks of playing L, I suppose." He stuffed the last bit of chocolate in his mouth and pitched the wrapper over his shoulder. "Get some sleep if you need it. We start work in two hours." The blonde retreated into he and Matt's bedroom.

Matt was about to follow after the blonde when he felt a tug on his arm. It was JJ.

"What am I gonna do?" the girl asked quietly. She hadn't been this quiet since Rester was killed.

Matt tried to smile, "You'll probably stay here too. To help Mello."

The girl nodded and went to join Mika.

Matt sighed and went after Mello. "You alright Mel?" he said, leaning against the door frame.

Mello looked at Matt over his shoulder. He was bent over his personal computer. "Yeah, why?"

Matt shrugged. "Just asking. I'm kinda worried about JJ."

Mello scoffed. "Why?"

Matt cocked an eyebrow at the blonde. "Come one now, you're smarter then that. She's freaking out. She doesn't know what to do with herself. Everyone is about to move into the path of the bullet, if you know what I mean, and she's scared."

Mello sighed and turned to look at Matt. "Yeah, well that's her problem. She knew what this case would be like when she came into it."

"She's a member of your team Mel, makes her your problem too."

Mello crossed his arms. "I can't waste energy trying to play counselor. If you want to cheer her up, do it yourself."

Matt opened his mouth to say something, but shut it, thinking better of it. "Let's not fight about this, not when we're about to start something really important like this."

"Good idea. Toss me that chocolate bar on the dresser would'ya?"

Matt picked up the chocolate bar and threw it to Mello.

Mello tore into the bar as he sat down on the edge of his bed. "Make sure you and Pip keep your eyes peeled tonight. Getting yourselves kidnapped would be the worst thing that could happen to us right now," he said quietly.

"Don't worry, I know how to handle myself and so does Pip. We'll be fine. Besides, I wouldn't let some goonie take me hostage and keep me from the pleasure of your company." He teasingly ruffled Mello's hair.

Mello brushed him off with a wave of his hand, eyes focused on the computer screen.

Matt sat down next to the blonde and huffed. "Come on, you need to relax some. We have two hours..." A grin started to grow on his face as he fished out a smoke. They could do a lot to each other in two hours.

Mello looked over at him from the corner of his eye. "Wipe that smirk off your face, Jeevas," he said, but not in total seriousness.

"Why don't you do that for me?" Matt moved closer to the blonde.

Mello chuckled under his breath. "If you're trying for seduction, you'll have to do better than that."

Matt clapped his hands together and batted his eyelashes-which didn't quiet work as well as he'd thought since he was wearing goggles-"Oh take me now you gorgeous blonde minx!"

Matt held the pose for a moment, but was forced to stick out his tongue, trying to keep from laughing. "How was that?"

Mello bit his lip as he sniggered. "Too fucking cute. C'mere..." Long pale fingers gently lifted Matt's orange-tinted goggles from his green eyes. Their lips met in the lightest of kisses, sending shoots of lust through both boys' bodies. For a moment, Mello wondered if this was how it was going to be from then on. Now that he and Matt had slept together, did that mean they had free reign over each others bodies? He had to admit, it sounded nice. To be able to take out his frustrations in bed would be more effective and far healthier than eating chocolate, at least.

'No, shut up and stop acting like a girl,' Mello mentally told himself. He returned his attention to Matt and his inviting mouth…

Matt was grinning and about to go in for another kiss when he saw something -- someone -- standing in the doorway.

Mello followed Matt's gaze to the slender young woman now watching them. He sighed softly but did not pull away. "Yes, Pip? What is it?"

The girl blinked several times. Had she really just seen that...? "I-I, uh... I was..." she stuttered, taking small steps backward toward the hallway. "I was just going to see if Matt wanted to, uh, get the equipment set up for tonight... But I can see you're busy... e-excuse me..." She hastened out of the room.

"Damnit..." Matt rubbed at his temples as he watched the poor girl hurry away.

Mello sighed and leaned back against the headboard of the bed. "Better go after her, lover boy. Don't want her getting the wrong idea." As if nothing had happened, the blonde was once again engrossed in his work. He was internally cursing Matt as a chicken shit.

Matt glared at Mello, but got up anyway. If he was going to have to spend hours alone with the girl he'd rather not spend it in awkward silence.

"Pip," he called, walking into the living room, "come here, please?"

Pip looked up from the papers she had hurriedly buried herself in. Without a word or a glance at the other members of the team, she went over to the waiting redhead. "Yes?"

"Umm...listen, uh...what you just saw back there-" He scratched at the back of his head nervously; how was he gonna go about this?

Pip held up her hands. "Please," she said softly, "spare me the kiss-and-tell."

Matt grumbled and stuck his cigarette in his mouth, but stopped after he realized he'd left his lighter in the other room. Fuck.

"You mad or something?" he asked.

Pip shook her head, offering a soft smile. "No, why would I be? I had a, uh, pretty good idea of what was going on with you and Mello already. You guys are kinda obvious," she teased.

"Well, THAT'S nice to know..." he muttered. He gave the girl a shaky smile before asking, "We still cool then?"

"Of course." He smile widened. "Now, why don't you go get your lighter -- it appears you've misplaced it -- and we can get to work?"

Matt was already gone; heaven forbid the guy go a few minutes without smoking.

Mello was still going at it on his laptop in between snaps of chocolate. He spared a glance at Matt as he entered. "Well?"

"She says everything's cool with her," he said as he began searching through his belongings, trying to locate his AWOL lighter. "Apparently, we're very obvious."

Mello gave Matt his full attention at that. "Obvious?! What the hell? Yesterday was the first time we hooked up! …Well shit."

"Yeah, I know right?" Matt rolled his eyes and threw his boots across the room. Where the hell was his lighter hiding?!

Mello began to chuckle. "Looking for this?" Held delicately between two fingers was Matt's precious silver lighter.

Matt stopped to gaze longingly at the lighter. "Where did you find that?"

"Nicked it out of your pocket," Mello replied, twirling it between his fingers.

"Very clever," Matt said with a roll of his eyes. He went over to Mello and made a grab for the prize.

Mello jerked his hand away. "Not so fast."

"Oh, COME ON!" He glared down at the blonde, about to go mad. "What do you want?"

Mello smirked. "You'll find out later. But you have to promise that you'll do whatever I ask."

Matt frowned at the request. Doing whatever Mello wanted could lead to a wide variety of things. "Like what exactly?" he asked, his eyes still locked on his silver lighter.

"Doesn't matter. You either promise, or you don't. But if you're too much of a coward..." Mello made to put the lighter in the inside pocket of his vest.

"I'm not a coward, I just now how twisted your mind can be." He was so close to just ripping off Mello's vest pocket and taking the lighter back by force. But Mello could and would kick his ass six ways from next Sunday if he did that, so....

"Damnit, fine! I promise. Just give me my fucking lighter."

Mello smirked. "Good boy, Inu-chan. Now run along and play with your little girlfriend," he said with some bitterness. Mello tossed the lighter to the redhead and returned to his work.

"Whatever, Mel." he said, taking the lighter back and walking out of the room. 'Inu-chan..' he thought peevishly. It seemed that he would always be branded as the love-sick little puppy.

The cigarette was lit and a deep drag was inhaled. Ah, sweet relief. He couldn't help but wonder though, as he walked over to Pip, what Mello had in store for him later. It would either be really good, or really, really humiliating. Matt wouldn't be surprised if Mello turned out to be an S&M freak…

~*~

Light Yagami was best known for his secrecy. He only shared information if it would turn out to be beneficial to him at some point. He was therefore an expert in manipulation, as had been demonstrated countless times in the past and present.

After instructing both of his wives and his lover not to bother him, Light locked his bedroom door and pulled out his cell phone. It was time for a status report from the god's latest and most devoted puppet.

"You've been a very bad boy, Levins, helping your friends break in to my guard room like that," Raito purred. "But I must admit, you are playing your part well; keeping to the shadows the way you are."

"Thank you my lord. Are you happy with the progress that's been made?"

Light was quiet for a moment. "Happy? Not exactly, no. You have yet to get me Mello's name. You've been working for him for almost a year -- how is it you do not know it?"

"I-I'm sorry my lord, he refuses to tell anyone his real name. The only one who knows it is Matt and I doubt I'd be able to get it out of him."

Light frowned. He had only ever heard of this Matt guy through his spy, but already the god didn't like him. "And I don't suppose you know Matt's real name?"

If Light could get his hands on Matt's name, he could control him and make him send Mello's name to the mansion. Oh how he wished. But nothing was ever that simple when it came to the damn Wammy kids…

"I-I'm afraid not. Like I-I've said before my lord, Mello refuses to let anyone tell anybody their real name. He's especially protective of Matt..." A sigh was heard on the other end of the line. "I'm sorry my lord. I'm a failure."

Light ran a hand through his hair. "You can redeem yourself if you tell me what Mello is planning to do next."

"They're planning a stake out, my lord. Mello is sending one team of two to watch over the Kira's Kingdom studio and another to watch over your home. The first shifts start tonight. I will be on the team that monitors your home."

Light Yagami grit his teeth at that, but not out of anger. Mello was making it so damn easy for him... "Perfect. Carry about your duties, and make sure to draw no attention to yourself, as you have been doing. Call me if anything new arises."

"Don't worry my lord, I will. I must go now, one of my teammates is coming."

The line was already dead.

~*~

Matt and Pip were making plans and getting equipment together when Mika came into the room. He looked curious about something.

"What is it, Mika?" Matt asked, seeing the look on Mika's face. The young man had a reputation for being lighthearted and easy-going, so it was odd to see him so concerned-looking.

The tall blonde looked at Matt as if he hadn't realized at first that someone else was in the room. "It's Kai," he said shortly.

Pip looked up as well, eyebrow raised. "What about Kai? Have you caught him stealing kisses with Iggy again?" She offered a light giggle.

Mika gave Pip a soft glare for acting silly. He stepped closer to the two of them and lowered his voice. "I heard him talking to someone in the bedroom. He was on the phone for a while and when I walked in he had hung up. He looked intense."

"What was he saying?" Pip asked, growing serious now.

"I'm not sure. He was just finishing the call when I walked in."

Pip blinked at him for a moment. "So I don't understand. Why are you acting so weird? Maybe Mello had him call someone?"

Matt shook his head. "Mel hasn't talked to Kai since that briefing earlier."

"Oh, I see... Well Kai knows we're not allowed to make calls..." Pip frowned and leaned back in her chair.

Mika nodded and leaned forward to whisper to the two of them, "It's pretty suspicious if you ask me, I mean-"

Mika went quiet as he heard someone else enter the room. It was Kai.

Kai looked over at Mika and narrowed his eyes a little. This made Matt curious; he didn't really think that Kai could be up to something, but then what was that exchange that just happened between the two teens? If someone on the team was sneaking around, that could only make trouble. But since Matt hadn't actually seen Kai making the call, he didn't want to jump to conclusions and cry witch right then and there.

It was then that Mello entered the room. "Oi, you guys have had more than your two hours of rest. Are you ready to leave or what?" The blonde sounded irritated; just as he had known at the beginning of the day, the happy moments could only last for so long. Stress was here to stay.

Matt nodded, as did the others. He carefully gathered up the equipment he would need and turned to Pip. "You ready to go?"

Pip nodded and slung her backpack over her shoulder. "Yep."

The familiar snap of chocolate was heard as Mello leaned against the wall. "You guys are taking the Eclipse." He tossed the keys to Matt. An obvious favoritism. Either that, or Mello didn't want to give Matt and Pip access to a full back seat…

Matt grinned, 'Well, at least the ride over there should be fun' he thought as he and Pip exited the room. A fast car and lots of gadgets were all he needed to make his night enjoyable.

Pip chuckled softly as she looked over at her companion. "What're you grinning about?"

Matt shrugged, "Nothing really. I just think that this whole mission thing might be interesting is all."

"Why? We're just going to sit there watching a building..."

"Hey, you never know. Something might actually happen." He thought about that for a second. "That may or may not be a good thing though… At least the company will be good." He gave the girl a small smile and pulled out another cigarette.

Pip gave him a soft smile. " At least there's that. I just hope we find some sort of lead..."

Matt nodded, his face serious once more. Hoping was all they really could do at the moment. Sure, they had gotten into Kira's home, but that hadn't given them anything solid to work with. Yet. They still had no idea where the SPK could be. All they could do was guess and hope that they found them before something horrible happened.


	9. Faith

A/N: HOLY SHIT, WHAT'S THIS?! An update you say? This is _MADNESS_! NO. THIS IS THE NEXT CHAPTER OF **SLAVES OF PURPOSE**!!! Dukki and myself FINALLY got around to messaging each other on MSN and wrote this chapter. I can't tell you how much fun we had doing this one. There is fluff in this chapter. It is not MelloXMatt. We'll get back to that later though, don't worry. I really hope you guys like this new chapter. REVIEW AND TELL US WHAT YOU THINK!! Reviews make us happy fangirls.

Disclaimer: We wish we did, but we don't own Death Note.

* * *

**Chapter Nine -- Faith**

Faith is a funny thing, Pip thought as she sat beside Matt in the tinted-window safety of the Eclipse. Hordes of people were crowded around the Kira's Kingdom station, as if expecting Kira himself to descend upon them and share his blessings.

"Che, fools," Pip thought. Her brow furrowed in mingled annoyance and disbelief as a young man was violently beaten back from the studio doors by a pair of police officers.

Matt took a long drag off his cigarette and flicked the dead butt out of the cracked window. They'd been sitting in the same spot for two hours, seeing nothing more interesting than a love-sick teenager strip and proclaim love for her savior. It was, to say the least, odd.

"Well, this is fun." he said, his voice laced with sarcasm.

Pip snorted. "Oodles of it." Her eyes followed passer-bys with little interest. "I don't see the point of staking this place out."

"Mello wants to have all his bases covered just in case."

The girl nodded, sighing. "I suppose." She respected Mello and his decisions, but still felt that her talents -- along with Matt's -- would be better served at base.

Matt rolled his eyes and gave the girl and small smile.  
"Just be glad we aren't over at Kira's home. It's bound to be ten times worse over there."

Pip nodded, biting her lip. "Yeah, Mika and Kai probably aren't having an easy time of it." She fell silent; this felt like discussing the weather.

Matt nodded absentmindedly. This was all just filler conversation, and it was starting to become strained. Matt looked over at the girl and cocked a brow, finally saying, "Something wrong? You seem a little...off."

Pip shook her head. "No, I'm alright." She chuckled dryly, thinking better of it. "Actually, to be honest, I'm a little distracted."

"Really? By what exactly?"

A blush crept up the girl's neck, coloring her ears and cheeks. "Well, uh, you and Mello, actually." She stared resolutely at the dashboard. "I can't, for some reason, get that kiss out of my head," she added, grumbling.

Matt tried not to look too embarrassed. It had bothered him a little when Pip had walked in on him and Mello together, but he hadn't really thought too much about how she had felt about it.  
"Yeah...listen. If you're really that bothered by that, I'm...sorry I guess. I don't really know what else to say." He pulled out his pack and stuck another smoke in his mouth.  
Not wanting the remainder of the stake-out to be horrible awkward, Pip said, "Don't misunderstand me, I'm not jealous or anything like that. God no." She gave him a teasing little laugh, trying to cover for how stupid she felt. "It was just an odd thing to see after working with Mello for a year. No worries. And hey, maybe this'll help his stress levels at least a bit."

"NOTHING will cure his stress. Trust me on this one." He chuckled awkwardly. This was NOT how he wanted to spend the rest of this stakeout. He noticed a barely concealed yawn and turned to the girl, ruffling her short hair.  
"Listen, try not to worry so much. Okay? Take a break, rest a little bit. I'll wake you up in a little while, you look like you need the sleep."

Pip shook her head, hair flopping into her face. "No, I'm alright," she said again. "I'd feel bad for falling asleep and leaving you with the work."

"Don't feel too bad, I'm quite used to it by now."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She yawned again, eyes dipping closed momentarily.

Matt lit up and took a quick drag. "I used to work for a major shit-head before I found Mello again. Always made me do all the work while he took all the credit. I made him regret that later, though." He laughed quietly at the memory.

Pip chuckled. "And what'd you do to the poor bugger?"

He turned to Pip, an evil grin on his face. "I'd tell you....but then I'd have to kill you. I'll tell you this much though: he was afraid to fall asleep around me after that." The redhead tapped the side of his nose and winked, still grinning.

"Oh, you're horrible!" Pip laughed, giggling behind her hand. The look on Matt's face was funnier than the story itself.

The gamer puffed out his chest, looking proud as a peacock. "I do have my moments."

Pip rolled her eyes. "Well, maybe I _will_ take a little nap. But roll down the window a little more, will'ya? I'm gonna suffocate from all your smoke."

Matt stuck his tongue out at the girl, but complied without further complaint. He leaned back in his seat and blew out a ring of smoke. "Have a good nap," he said softly before turning his attention once more to the doors of the station.

Pip was soon fast asleep, which was to be expected; she was always tired these days. They all were.

Matt sighed as he watched Kira's brainless fans show their support to the absent god. 'Bunch of idiots', he thought to himself. After a good ten minutes of the spectacle, Matt was forced to look away -- he was afraid his eyes would bleed if they took in too much.

He glanced over at Pip in the passenger seat and saw she was out like a light. It made him smile just a little. She looked rather peaceful in her sleep, more like the teenage girl that she was, and less like a haggard war refuge. As with Mello, stress fell away to innocence when she was asleep.

Before Matt could stop himself, he was reaching across the divider between the seats and brushing a lock of hair from Pip's eyes. As his skin made contact, he was struck with a sudden, wild thought: he wanted to kiss her. His eyes widened at the very thought. He couldn't do that....could he? More importantly, _why?_ He knew instantly that it was mere curiosity. After all, Pip was cute, right? And there _had_ been a moment or two of attraction between them.

The devil on his shoulder began to put in his two cents.

She was asleep, she would never even know it happened. Mello would never have to know either.

It was settled, then.

Acting quickly, he pressed a brief kiss to her delicately parted lips. The encounter only lasted long enough for him to taste mint.

Face burning, but with a smile on his face, he turned to continue watching out for anything suspicious happening outside of his own little world.

Moments later, Pip was stirring. She ran a sleepy hand over her face, touching her lips and making a noise like a yawning cat. With a soft sigh and a lick of her lips, the girl turned to her side, facing Matt, and continued sleeping. Her brow furrowed as she realized that her lips tasted like smoke. Smoke? That made no sense. This fact alone was enough to bring her out of sleep. Her eyes opened slightly, trained on Matt as he brought his cigarette to his lips for the millionth time.

Matt shot a look at Pip, the smile still on his face. He turned back to blow the smoke out the window.

"Do we have any water?" Pip asked. "My mouth tastes like one of your cigarettes or something." The girl made a face, propping herself up on one arm.

Matt blanched. _Oh shi-_  
"H-here you go," he said, handing her a bottle of water from one of the bags. He couldn't look her in the eye.

Pip took the bottle, her fingertips brushing Matt's. "Is something wrong? Your face is red."

"Hm? Oh, I-I guess I'm just over-heating a little bit. Wearing a fur vest can do that to ya'." He scratched the back of his head, grinning nervously.

"Then why not take it off, dummy?" Pip teased. "And here, have some water." She offered the water bottle back to him.

Matt nodded and took off said garment and stuffed it in the back of the small car. He gratefully accepted the bottle and took a swig of the lukewarm water, glad for something to do.

Pip was watching him carefully. "Are you sure you're ok? If you're getting sick or something, Mello's going to want to know."

"Really, I'm fine." He turned back to the window. "Why, don't you check in with the guys and see how they're doing if you're not gonna go back to sleep."

Pip shook her head. "We're not supposed to contact them, remember? Just in case. Mello told Kai and Mika to contact us first, because the odds are in favor of something happening at Kira's mansion."

Matt could have slapped himself; how could he have forgotten that?! It was a mental slip that Pip was bound to notice. _Why the fuck am I so nervous?_ he wondered.  
"Oh. Right..."

Ok, something was definitely up. Matt was never forgetful. "Matt," Pip said, "what's wrong?"

"Umm," he sighed, "just a little...distracted I guess..."

Pip waved her hand in a series of circles -- a "yes, go on" gesture.

"...by someone..." His face was starting to feel hot. He couldn't believe he was weirding out like this.

Pip's eyes widened slightly. "OH, I get it. You were thinking about Mello? That must be why you're...flustered." She couldn't help but giggle, even if her assumption was off base.

Matt's mind went blank. She...thought he was...  
Wow. Maybe she was being purposely oblivious. Either way, though, it didn't really matter.  
"Yeah, sure..." the redhead started to play with his lighter, trying hard not to look in Pip's direction.

"Or am I wrong?" Pip guessed. "No need to get _totally_ embarrassed..."

"Well, yes and no. I was thinking about Mel, but..."

"But...?" This conversation was like pulling teeth, but Pip felt that she _had_ to know.

'Well, it's do or die time' he thought to himself. He took a deep breath and turned to the girl.  
"I was thinking about...well...you actually."

Pip blinked once. Twice.  
"Me?"

"...yeah."  
He was so screwed.

Pip was flushed pink, much like Matt. "W-what about me?" she said. Her voice came out as puffs of air.

Matt gave Pip a weak smile. "I was thinking about how you looked while you were asleep."

"And then you kissed me?"

Matt looked stunned at the sudden question, but nodded dumbly. No use denying it now. "How'd you know?"

"I could taste your cigarette." Pip found herself grinning. "I didn't think you'd be the type to molest a girl in her sleep, Matt."

The red head looked slightly offended. "I didn't MOLEST you. It was a kiss. That's all."

"I was teasing you," Pip giggled.

"Yeah, sure." Matt smiled at the girl, a little to happy with the turn of events to be upset with the teasing. This was going better then he thought it would, oddly enough. "So...now what?"

Pip shrugged, grinning. "Dunno. You're the one with a boyfriend here. It's more up to you than it is me." Internally, Pip was gawking at herself; when did she become a flirt? Maybe it had something to do with the way Matt's eyes reflected the soft glow of his cigarette, or the way his mouth turned up in sly little corners when he grinned. In any case, Pip could feel her pulse quickening as she savored the smoky taste still on her lips.

"Mello and I only just hooked up. I don't think we've even reached THAT point," he said, meaning the status of "boyfriend." Matt moved a little closer to the girl, a pleased look on his face.

Pip's stomach did a flip, landing finally in a fluttering heap. "Well, if you're sure, then maybe you should try kissing me again. I hear that it's much more enjoyable when both parties are conscious."

Matt leaned forward, his eyes half closed, and gently pushed away a strand of her hair. "I'd like that."

Pip closed her eyes, silently praying that nothing of consequence would happen in the world of Kira for the next ten minutes…

~*~

Mika and Kai had been sitting in dead silence throughout most of their stake-out. The only words to be spoken were Mika's failed attempts at conversation, each time to be ignored or shot down by Kai. It was beginning to get on the blondes' nerves.

"What's up with you Kai?" Mika finally asked. "You've been awful quiet."

"And you've been awful talkative. It's quite annoying."

Mika resisted the urge to punch the other man in the face.

Ever since the phone call incident back at the hotel, things between the two teens had been...tense. Neither wanted to be responsible for starting a fight, so silence was the only avenue. If anything, it made things worse. Mika decided to try again. "Maybe you should check in with Matt and Pip? It's been a while."

Kai put down his binoculars and cocked and eyebrow at the other boy.

"Why don't you?"

"Kai, you're being weird. What exactly do you think I'm gonna do?"

"Not sure, you've been surprising me lately."

Mika glared at the other man, his hands clenching into fists. "I could say the same thing about you too, Kai."

Kai chose not to respond to that statement. He told Mika to keep watch and picked up his phone. He dialed in Pip's number and waited for the girl to pick up.

Back in the Eclipse, Pip jumped a mile at the sound of her phone. "Damn it," she muttered, pulling away from the all-too brief kiss that she and Matt had shared. "Hello?" she said into the phone.

"Pip? How are things on your end?"

Pip glanced at Matt, already turning red. "Quiet. Nothing is happening at the studio, just the usual crazed Kira fans."

"Likewise, only I have less preferable company."

Matt could actually hear Mika's shouted retort to the comment, and he and Pip exchanged a look.

Pip winced for the sake of her friends. "Play nice, you two. We only have a few hours left to go."

"Yeah, I know it's just-HEY WHAT TH-!" The phone cut off with a strangled yell from Kai.

Pip pulled the phone away from her ear, speechless. Her heart pounded for entirely different reasons than moments before. Her eyes were wide as she looked up at Matt

"Shit." Matt quickly pulled out his phone and punched in Mello's cell number. That had not sounded good, whatever it was. He heard the phone pick up on Mello's end.  
"Mel? We got a problem."

"I know, I saw the whole thing," came Mello's quick reply. "Get your asses back to base, NOW." Mello cut the connection.

"Did I just hear him say he 'saw the whole thing'?" Pip said.

Matt looked dumbfounded for a moment. "Yeah, I wonder-"  
Then it hit him. He SAW the whole thing. That could only mean he had cameras in the car, which meant-  
"We. Are. So. SCREWED."

Pip waved her hands frantically. "I don't care about that now! Take us back to base! Something happened to Kai and Mika!"

Matt put the car in drive and hit the gas. "Yeah, I know. Mello has cameras in the car, so at least we know what happened." He sped down the street as fast as he could. They were all screwed. Kira knew. The bastard must have known the whole time that a stake-out was taking place. That's the only explanation Matt could think of. But if that was true then....who had told him?

~*~

When Matt and Pip arrived, the base was in panic. Well, everyone but Mello was panicked. The blonde was seated before three television monitors, paying close attention to what could only be Mika and Kai's surveillance tapes.

"Matt," Mello said the moment the redhead entered the room. "I need you to analyze these tapes for me."

Matt walked over to where Mello was a sat next to him. "Sure. Let me see."

Mello got to his feet the moment Matt sat down, instead leaning against the wall. "You're not even going to ask for an explanation of what happened?"

"Oh just tell them, Mello!" Icarus snapped.

"Yeah, I was hoping for a recap," Matt said, frustration bubbling to the surface. Mello was clearly avoiding him somewhat. It was confirmed, then, that the blonde had been watching Matt and Pip lock lips.

"We've been betrayed," Mello said with a snap of chocolate.

"W-what?" Pip said. "By who?"

Mello didn't look at the girl, nor did he reply to her. In fact, he was ignoring her altogether.

Matt's attention was on the surveillance tape. From what he could see, a group of Kira's guards had ambushed the two while Kai was checking in. One blow to the head, and both operatives were out like lights. How could this have gone so wrong?

"Who could have told him we were going to be there tonight?" the redhead questioned quietly.

Mello shook his head. He had no idea. "I have no reason to suspect any of you here. The only person that was ever under suspicion was in that car tonight, and the issue of his guilt no longer matters." So that was it, then. It was either Kai or Mika who was the guilty one. The answer was clear as day to Mello now. After a silent moment of looking at his boots, Mello pushed away from the wall and tossed his half-eaten chocolate bar into the trash. "Matt, analyze that tape. Get anything you can pull from it. Voices, faces, anything." With that said, Mello went into he and Matt's bedroom and closed the door, locking it.

JJ crawled over to where Matt was sitting and looked up at him with the most serious expression he had ever seen. "Do you think we'll be able to get them back?"

Matt nodded. "Let's hope so." Matt re-watched the tape, not really seeing much he could use. The guards had their faces covered and moved out pretty quickly. He could only hope that he or Mello would figure out something soon.

Pip sat down in one of the armchairs beside the window and put her face in her hands. This was a bad situation in so many ways.

Matt looked up at the others. They all looked worried; he didn't blame them. He stood up and ran his hands through his hair. He just couldn't think straight. This whole thing: the stakeout, the kidnapping, this thing with Mello, all of it was going up in flames. It was horrible, and he didn't know what to do about it.

After deciding that no good was being done by simply sitting on his ass, Matt walked over to the door of he and Mello's shared room and knocked. "Mel?"

"Buzz off," Mello replied.

"Come on Mel, open up."

"I'm working. Go away."

"Fine then, we'll do this the hard way," Matt muttered to himself. He dropped onto one knee and pulled up one of his pant legs. Strapped to his ankle was a small set of lock picks (for emergency uses of course). Taking out the ones he would need, he started to pick at the lock on the door as the teens that made up their small task force looked on.

Moments of minimal effort brought the clean click of the lock as it slid open.

"You're a bastard, Matt, and if you come in here, I will shoot you," came Mello's voice from inside the room.

Matt thought about the threat for a minute. "I think I'm willing to take that risk, Mello." He stood up and opened the door all the way and walked into the room.

Mello was sitting in bed, pistol aimed and face set in resolute frustration. "Tell the others to get to work and close the damn door," he barked.

Matt relayed the order to the teens and shut the door. He looked up at the blonde from under his bangs, expression defenseless.

Mello sneered. "Don't give me that fucking puppy-dog look, Jeevas."

Matt simply sighed and looked Mello dead in the eye. "What exactly do you want me to say, Mihael?"

"I want you to explain to me why you were fornicating while you were supposed to be focused on a mission that _I_ assigned to you." Mello's voice was steely, cold, and angry beyond reason. If his gun had been loaded, shots would have been fired.

Matt looked at the angry blonde, deadly calm. On the inside he was freaking out, but he wasn't about to let Mello know that. "We weren't 'fornicating,' as you so boldly put it. It was a kiss. Nothing more, nothing less."

"It was a distraction. You let a whole fifteen minutes of activity go past without either of you monitoring it. I could care less who you decide to fuck, but the fact that you interfered with the mission, is un-fucking-acceptable."

"Liar. You had cameras in the car, if anything had happened you would have seen it too."

"But it was YOUR job!" Mello shouted, getting to his feet. "If you want me to do all the work while you make a pass at Pip, get the hell out of here now."

Matt was silent. There was really nothing more to be said. Matt knew he was in the wrong, he knew he should have been paying more attention. But they were both angry now. And people say things they regret when they're mad.  
"Fine then," was all Matt said. He turned on his heel and walked out the door. He stalked past the teens and left the hotel room entirely.  
He had to get out. He had to get some air.

Had to get away.

Mello was left staring, eyes wide and owlish. He flinched as the door slammed. Matt had... left? No. HELL no. Didn't that moron understand an empty threat when he heard one? "Well fine," Mello snapped under his breath. "I don't need him." The bedroom door was closed again.

~*~

Kai couldn't see. He couldn't move, either. Everything was black.  
"Mika?!" He called out desperately. He heard nothing in response. He started to panic; what the hell was going on?! He heard a door open and shut somewhere and he called out again. A vindictive laugh answered him.

"I'm afraid your friend Mika isn't here anymore." That voice...it was so familiar...

"Welcome to my home, Mr. Kai. I do apologize for the brutish delivery, however."

Kira. That was Kira's goddamn voice.

Light Yagami walked a vulture's circle around the chained boy. Kai's hands were tied above him, hanging from the ceiling, making him completely vulnerable to any of Kira's...pursuits. "I'm afraid that you will not be seeing Mika for quite a while, but I will be more than happy to keep you company, provided you give me what I want." A hand was lightly brushed against Kai's cheek.

The prisoner flinched at the feeling of the false god's cold touch.  
"S-stay away from me! Let me go!"

Raito laughed lowly. "Oh come now, Kai-san, nothing is that easy."

Kai couldn't keep from shuddering at Kira's voice. He was afraid of what this man could do to him. He was helpless, completely at the mercy of a murder.  
"W-what do you want from me?"

"I was hoping you would ask that question," Kira chuckled. From somewhere on his person, the god revealed a short knife, and used it to slice away Kai's shirt. "The only thing I want, the only thing that will save your life, is Mello's name." The knife was pressed to Kai's chest -- a threat.

A hopeless sob escaped the teens mouth. Oh G-d, he was going to die. He bit his lip as he felt the cold metal on his skin.

"P-p-please, I don't know. No one knows." His lean body was shaking badly now.

"Who does?" Kira insisted. He smirked and gave Kai's nipple a tweak with his fingers.

Kai shouted and tried to pull away. He didn't want to be touched by this...this MONSTER. "I. Don't. KNOW."

"What about this person named Matt? Does HE know Mello's name? Come now, Kai, be a good boy, and I'll let you down from these chains."

Tears streamed down Kai's face from underneath his blind fold. "No you won't. As-as soon as I tell y-you, you'll kill me. I'm not stupid!"

"If you DON'T tell me, then I will kill you AND this young man called Iggy. My lover tells me that the two of you are close. You wouldn't want that, would you?" Kira laughed quietly.

"STAY AWAY FROM HIM!" He thrashed about; trying to kick at where he thought Kira was standing.

"Then tell me how I can get to Matt!" Light shouted, far from Kai's weak kicks.

Kai bit his lip until he tasted blood. He couldn't tell him. He couldn't. But Iggy was at stake... He said...no. He couldn't do it. If he had learned anything from Mello it was not to surrender, under any circumstances.

Kai didn't say a word.

Light scowled. This was not good. He needed that damn name! In a flare of rage, the god brought the knife up over his head, ready to bring it down on the man.

"Kami! Kami! We got a connection to the boy's car!"

Light whipped around, knife hand falling limp. "What?" he barked at the soldier standing in the doorway.

The soldier took a step back, eyeing the scene. "We, uh, managed to get a connection to the computer in Matt's car. We're tracking him now."

The god's face stretched into a maniacal grin. "Perfect. Send out all the men you need to catch him."

With a deep bow, the soldier dashed away, ready to follow orders.

"Hear that, Kai?" Light said, lifting the boy's face. "Maybe one day soon, I'll be able to taste this lover of yours for myself."

Kai spat in Kira's face. "I hope you rot in Hell you son of a bitch."

The man chuckled. "You are by no means the first to wish that fate upon me." Kira dropped the knife beside him and reached around to undo Kai's blindfold. "There now. That will make this MUCH easier." Before Kai could spit again, Light punched the prisoner solidly across the face.

Kai groaned as blood dripped from his nose. His head dropped down onto his chest and things began to fade back into black. "You....won't win..." he slurred as he passed out. He could only hope that he was right.


	10. Crashes and Consequences

A/N: Alright, I have to get ready for school so I'll make this quick. Here's the next chapter. It was supposed to be longer, but it ended up getting too long at one point so we cut it in half. The next part will proly be up some time today or tomorrow.

Disclaimer: We only own the OC's.

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Chapter 10--Crashes and Consequences

Matt flicked another dead butt out the window as he made a sharp turn down the street. He was still fuming from his fight with Mello. It wasn't even that he was mad at him, he was angrier with himself. He'd have gone back if he hadn't thought about what could possibly be awaiting him. Surely, Mello would be beyond his usual level of "pissed" and closer to "livid." Going back to base now would be nothing but bruises and screaming. It wasn't a happy thought.

He looked up at the rear view mirror as he changed lanes.

There was a black van following him. The same van, in fact, that had been on his ass for the past three blocks. That could only mean so many things; none of them good . He sped up and watched as the van behind him did the same. Two more flanked the first van and started to come up closer to him. 'Oh, fuck that,' he thought. If what he was thinking was right, Kira's cronies were about to do some serious damage.

He wasn't about to let that happen. He hit the gas and high tailed it down the street. Visions of Anthony Rester falling dead on a stage were flooding his brain. He had to think fast now; the vans were beginning to catch up. A glance out his window told him he was by a park. A crazy idea hit him and he ran with it. He veered to the right and drove straight into the park. Right into the trees. One moment, Matt was watching a solid wall of tree limbs hurdling closer and closer, and the next, he was melded with them. A loud crash was heard, like thunder and a tornado sounding at once.

It was then that Kira's henchmen finally caught up.

They found the car totaled and wrapped around a tree. It was smoking, threatening to blow at any time. They pulled open the carcass of the Eclipse to find it empty, spots of blood staining the seat.

The guards exchanged sullen glances; no one was looking forward to the phone call that would have to be made.

Eventually, seniority won out, and the lead guard made the dreaded call.

"I'm sorry, Sir," the guard said, tone solemn. "But we lost him. The bastard ran his own car into a tree."

Kira's fists were balled tight enough to puncture skin. As the god pinched the bridge of his nose, his cheeks were left stained scarlet, evidence of his extreme frustration. "What do you mean he ran into a tree? Where is he?" he snapped.

The man flinched at the tone the god's voice had taken. "I-I'm sorry Sir, he purposely drove his car into a tree to try and escape and is now nowhere to be found. We are searching the area as we speak. If he's here, we will find him, Kami." The man swallowed, trying hard not to vomit with fear.

"The lives of your family depend on it, Commander." The god slammed his bloody hand down on the phone, cutting the connection and the speaker. '_That brainless commander will surely work harder now,_' Light thought.

Mikami watched as his Kami became more and more frustrated. This was not good. This was horrible. If only Mikami could get his hands around that bastard Mello's throat, he'd make him sorry. The dark-haired man came up behind the god and laid what was meant to be a comforting hand upon his shoulder. "Kami...?" he questioned, needing to hear some kind of response.

Light thrashed out, beating Mikami back. "Don't touch me, Mikami," he spat. Light didn't want to be pawed. He wanted to kill. Slaughter. Light wanted Mello tied to a bed so that he could put a blade through his gut himself.

Mikami backtracked away from his lover quickly, not wanting to be the focus of his anger. "M-my apologies Kami. I only wish to help." He lowered his gaze, the very picture of submission to a higher power.

Light looked at his devoted servant a moment. Mikami was indeed perfect; just as Light knew he would be from the beginning. Through the years, the former attorney had proved himself worthy where even the faithful Takada had fallen short. Perhaps Mikami did not deserve the brunt of god's rage after all.

"Mikami," Light said, his tone soft now. He touched the man's face tenderly, running a thumb along Mikami's familiar lips. "Go to my quarters and make yourself comfortable. I will join you in a few hours." Light's smoldering, seductive eyes were promise enough.

Mikami felt himself melt under the gods gaze. It gave him a high no drugs on earth ever could. He took the hand touching his face and pressed a delicate kiss to the soft skin.

"As you wish, my Kami."

Light pulled Mikami a fraction closer, enough to place a butterfly's kiss to the man's lips, and to run his hand expertly over the zipper of Mikami's pants. "Be sure to kick Misa out when you enter the room; the last I saw her, she was still recovering."

The darker haired man only just bit back a moan. Kami's touch drove him mad; he couldn't wait to have his moment with him. "I'll be sure to do so, Kami." '_Damn Misa_,' he thought to himself. She didn't deserve to be with this magnificent creature, nor was she worthy of the things that Kami could do in the dark seclusion of the bedroom. "I will wait as long as I must," he added, a soft sigh in the god's ear. Feeling satisfied for the moment, Mikami pulled away and headed for the door; he would get much closer soon enough.

Light Yagami did not linger to watch Mikami leave, although he listened for the subtle click of the door as it locked and double-locked. Above all -- even above his egotism and narcissism -- Light was paranoid, more so than Mello, if you can believe it. There were certain things, certain rooms, that Light demanded be for his personal use alone. The room he was in currently -- the third floor technologies base -- was not one of them, of course. But there were hidden atrium's and passageways everywhere. It was into one of these secluded spaces that the god crept into now, pulling his cell phone out as he did so.

"Have you found him yet?" he demanded of the search team's commander.

There was hesitation on the commander's end. Eventually there came a sullen answer. "I'm afraid....h-he is nowhere to be found Kami. We've searched every square foot of the area and...it's as though he completely vanished. I'm sorry, Sir..."

"Useless fools..." Light murmured to himself. "I don't suppose he was caught on any of the city traffic cameras, either?"

"We've gone over them several times. There isn't a single trace of him anywhere. Please Kami, I'm sorry."

Light sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose again. "Sweep the area once more, commander, and when you return to the mansion, I would like you to write the name of the family member that will be paying for this blunder of yours on a piece of paper." A smirk spread on Light's face. "If you fail once again, that person will pay the price."

The commander's breath hitched, jaw clenched to keep from screaming. "Y-yes Sir. Of course, right away Sir." The commander hung up the phone to continue the search, knowing in his gut that there was truly nothing out there to find.

~*~

The atmosphere in the Anti-Kira base was, to say the least, strained. No one wanted to address the fact that Matt was gone, but it was a hard thing to pretend not to notice.

"Mello, I'm sorry, but I can't get past the firewalls Matt installed on his laptop," said Icarus from the couch. He had been given the task of accessing Matt's files on the case -- most importantly, the security camera hook-ups with the Kira mansion.

Mello snarled under his breath. Damn Matt... ruining things again. "Move over," the blonde barked. Icarus was quick to hand over the laptop.

JJ watched all of this with a blank expression. It was the quietest anyone had ever seen her. Usually she was bouncing with energy in even the bleakest moments, but it seemed as though the recent kidnappings were really getting to her. Mello cursed as Matt's laptop denied him access once again. It seemed as though they were never going to get in.

"Let me try, Mello," JJ said quietly.

Mello looked over at the girl, eyebrow cocked. "Fine, s'not like I'm going to get into the damn thing, anyway." He handed the laptop over without looking at JJ, instead focusing his attention out the window.

JJ sat hunched over the computer, a concentrated look on her face. Moments of inspection later, JJ was pecking at the keys carefully and with purpose. After a few tries, the laptop pinged, signaling access to the files. "I got it."

Everyone looked up at once.

"You're shitting me," Mello said, eyes wide.

JJ looked confused for a moment. "No. Why, did I do something wrong?"

Mello blinked. "No. You did something very, very good. Hook the laptop up to the monitors," he said quickly to the others.

The twins were on their feet in an instant, searching for wires.

"Eureka!" Iggy said, a smile on his face as the monitors displayed the inner workings of Kira's mansion.

"Good work, JJ." Mello gave the girl a brief smile and a nod of his head. It was the most respect he had ever shown her.

JJ giggled sweetly and nodded back. "It wasn't that hard," she said as she watched the others work. She was glad that she was finally being useful to the leader she held so much respect for.

Mello was soon watching all fifteen screens at once, looking for any sign of Mika, Kai, or -- God forbid -- Matt.

Where WAS that stupid bastard, anyway?

"Would someone try calling Matt's cell phone?" Mello said quietly, not taking his eyes from the television monitors

"I-I will," Pip said after a moment of exchanged glances with the others.

Mello showed no note of surprise.

Pip, whom was seated at the kitchen table, dialed Matt's number with anxious fingers and waited.

"Speaker phone," Mello said.

Pip nodded and switched her phone to speaker mode. Everyone stayed completely silent.

The phone rang a few times before the voice mail picked up. If Matt wasn't answering his phone, then that meant…well, that meant something bad.

Pip hung up the phone without having to be told.

Slowly, everyone looked over at Mello, wondering what they were going to do now.

"We did fine before Matt came along, and we'll solve this case without him now," the blonde said, eyes flashing. "Keep monitoring the surveillance, and see how much further you can get into Kira's computer system. Split up into teams and sleep in shifts. We have to find Kai and Mika, but the SPK is still our priority."

The others looked to one another, but did as they were told. There was really not much else they could do at the moment, and Mello was right, finding their teammates and the SPK was their priority. JJ went over to Pip and took her hand. "Do you think Matt's alright?"

Pip bit her lip, glancing at Mello, who stood abruptly and went to his room. The slamming of the door made them all wince.

"I...I don't know, JJ," Pip finally said with a sigh.

JJ tugged at her hand and gave the other girl a hopeful smile. "He'll be okay. Just you watch. He'll be back." She sounded so sure of herself.

Pip grinned weakly. "Yes, I suppose he will." After a moment, she stood. "Well," she said, clasping her hands together, "you heard Mello -- we have work to do. Who wants to take the first shift?"

No one volunteered immediately and you couldn't really blame them, especially with everything that had happened in the last couple of hours; all anyone wanted was a good night's sleep. JJ looked around at the teens in the room that had been like a family to her and slowly, finally, raised her hand.

"I'll help you out, JJ," Icarus said.

The small girl smiled at the twin and went over to sit with him. With this settled they could get to work and _hopefully _be able to figure out exactly what the hell was going on.

~*~

The sky had grown dark and black clouds were starting to move in, threatening to open up and spill rain all over the city. In a small dive-bar in the bad end of town a lonely figure slumped over the bar, their hood pulled low over their face.

"Something I can get you, buddy?" the bartender asked, looking cross.

The figure looked up, revealing himself as a man. His dark green eyes locked with the bartender's.

"Yeah. Can I get a cigarette? I'm dyin' over here." He grinned and began to play with a small silver lighter.

The barman eyed the odd man with a wary eye. "Gotta buy a drink first."

The green eyed man groaned. It was always something with these guys...

"Fine then, ya got any coffee?"

"This look like a diner to you, kid?"

The man glared at the barkeep, "Fine, how about a glass of water? Or do you not have that either?" He sneered at the older man and tapped his fingers on the counter, waiting for an answer.

The bartender grunted, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, we got water." He pulled a dusty glass from the shelf and filled it with tap water. "Here," he said shortly, putting the glass and a single cigarette before the patron.

"Thank you ever so much," he said with as much sarcasm as he could muster. 'What a dick', he thought to himself as he lit up the cigarette and took a deep drag. He sighed contentedly; oh _sweet_ nicotine. He flicked the ashes into the glass of water, much to the annoyance of the bartender. The sounds of a newswoman's voice turned the man's attention to the small TV above the bar.

A reporter stood at the scene of a car crash in an up-town park. Several witnesses report seeing the car, an Eclipse, being followed, but nothing could really be proven. They were still searching for the driver who had gone missing from the scene of the accident.

"What a waste of a great car," the green-eyed man muttered, taking another drag.

The bartender grunted -- it seemed to be the only noise he could consistently make.

The man turned to the barkeep, a snarky look on his face. "Anyone ever tell you that you're an excellent conversationalist?"

The greasy, chubby barman looked at the young man a moment. "Che," he snorted, and exited to the backroom, leaving the man unattended.

The young man grinned and snubbed out the dead butt. Quickly snatching up the pack of smokes the bartender had left on the counter he walked out the door, not wanting to stick around too long. He felt rain drops hitting his hooded and took off running, trying to find somewhere else to stay. He had to keep out of the public places for a while.

HE -- Kira -- would be looking for him by now, especially considering his whole disappearing act earlier. The man ducked into a small tea shop and went into the bathroom. He locked the door and took off his hood and the hat he had been wearing underneath it, revealing his red hair. He looked into the mirror and barely recognized himself from beneath all the blood and bruises.

The crash had done a number on his body, he had seen that much. He was lucky he hadn't broken a rib. But his face...he looked like hell. He had gotten off most of the blood, but the scratches from the windshield were quite prominent. He splashed some water on his face and took a deep breath.

Beyond all else, he hoped that the others were okay.

From his pocket the red head took out what remained of his cell phone. The whole thing was smashed to within an inch of its life. From behind the horribly cracked screen he could see the 'missed call' icon. Most likely it was Mello and the kids. He wished he could call and check in, but the phone couldn't send out calls, it could only receive them.

He'd find a payphone later.

He'd check in.

See if they were still alive.

You could never be sure anymore.

For now though, he needed to find somewhere else to stay for the night. Kira's men would be out searching for him still, and he couldn't risk leading them straight to the base (not to mention that sleeping in a public restroom did not sound enjoyable).

He ducked out of the bathroom after cleaning up some. Hat and hood safely in place he set out in the rain, hoping he could find somewhere to stay before he froze to death. Hell, if he lived through the night at all, he'd be happy.


	11. Cat and Mouse

A/N: HOLY SHIT!!! IT'S A NEW CHAPTER!!! I'm so sorry that we haven't update this thing for so long, Dukki and I hadn't been talking a lot and then we had ACT's and- no, no excuses. Here's a new chapter. I really hope you guys like it. It was supposed to be part of chapter 10, but that chapter ended up pretty long on it's own. Oh, and just so you know, we will most likely continue this in a sub-chapter(the sex I mean).

**WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS ADULT SITUATIONS(MENTIONS OF SEX, FOREPLAY AND FETISHES). IF THIS BOTHERS YOU THEN PLEASE DO NOT READ AHEAD. IF THIS DOES NOT BOTHER YOU THEN PLEASE ENJOY.**

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Chapter 11--Cat and Mouse

Mello was getting annoyed. Not angry, mind you. Annoyed.

Matt wasn't answering his damn phone again.

But living in such an advanced day and age came with perks. Namely, GPS. Little did Matt know, Mello had installed a tracking device into his cell phone -- a device that could be used _once_ and only in the case of an emergency.

This was an emergency.

So, after leaving the team with their very own briefcase full of guns, Mello climbed into the only available vehicle and set off.

"He's in the red light district? No fucking way..."

Mello blinked in disbelief at the monitor affixed to the dashboard. He was indeed receiving instructions to venture into the "shady" edge of town. This made Mello stare blankly for several moments. This _had_ to be a joke.

"Matt, if you're out buying a hooker, I'll cut your junk off."

~*~

More missed calls. They had been coming in droves. All of them from Mello. Matt sighed as he pushed open the door to a dodgy looking hotel. The wallpaper was peeling, it stank like old piss and sweat, and he could have sworn he had just seen a rat run across the floor. But it was dry and that was all that really mattered at the moment.

He went up to the front desk and tried to grab the attention of the bored looking man in charge.

"Hey! Can I get a room for tonight?"

"Do you have money?" the man replied.

Matt pulled out a wet and wrinkled wad of bills from his back pocket and laid a few of them out on the counter

The haggard man handed Matt a room key without further question, snatching away the payment.

"Thank ya very much." He twirled the key on his finger and went up to the room. He was afraid of what he would find having already seen the lobby, but it couldn't be that bad, right?

No. It was worse.

The room smelled of mold and he could faintly see what he thought was a chalk outline of a body on the worn wood floors.

_Oh shit,_ he thought as he inched around the spot and sat on the stained bed. He didn't even want to THINK about what he was sitting on. He just wanted to get some rest.

He flopped back and closed his eyes, ready for whatever kind of sleep that was coming for him.

~*~

Mello arrived at the hotel just as the thunder started. The storm had progressed and grown stronger as the minutes ticked by, and finally it was hitting its peak. Mello wanted nothing more that to retreat inside the plush, luxurious confines of his five-star hotel and go to sleep, but first he had to deal with the dog that ran away.

Upon entering the hotel lobby, Mello realized that Matt must have been horribly desperate. Peeling walls and air you could taste? Fucking disgusting.

The sorry sap behind the front desk was barely able to say, "Can I help you?" before Mello cut across him with--

"Did a redheaded guy come in here asking for a room?"

The man nodded slowly. "Yeah, he did."

Mello stared at him for a long moment. "Well?" he demanded. "What room is he in?"

"Eleven," the man replied. "And please don't make too much of a mess in there."

A mess? Try a bloodbath. Mello was going to strangle that nicotine-loving moron with his bare hands.

Matt heard foots steps moving quickly toward his room. His eyes shot open. _Shit. Who the hell--_ Matt didn't have time to think, he reached behind and pulled out the gun that was strapped to the small of his back. Cocking it, he pointed it at the door, ready to shoot the next person who walked in.

The first thing to enter the room was a boot, followed by the tail of a dark red coat, and finally, the barrel of Mello's own gun. "Don't you DARE shoot me, Matt!" the blonde said before even seeing Matt's defensive position.

"FUCK!" Matt couldn't believe it. What the HELL was Mello doing here? "How did you-" No. If Mello had put trackers in the car then he would have stooped to putting them in the phones too. "Are you really this stupid, Mello? I didn't come back for a damn good reason!"

"Oh you poor fucking martyr!" Mello kicked the door shut behind him, locking it. "There was a tracker in your phone, dumbass. Untraceable. Only good for about an hour before it fried out your phone." The blonde's eyes were narrowed, angry as usual.

"Yeah, I kinda figured that one out on my own, thanks." Matt pushed back his hair, but didn't drop his gun. He KNEW what the blonde was capable of when he was pissed. Matt wasn't about to drop his guard. "So, what's up Mel? To what do I owe the honor of your cheery presence?" he sneered. This was pushing it, but he didn't really care right now.

Mello glared at the man for a moment. Slowly, decisively, he lowered his gun. "You goddamn fucking IDIOT," he cursed. "You're bleeding, Matt. Damn it, you have blood all over your face." The blonde set his gun atop the dresser and removed his coat.

Matt rolled his eyes, "Well, that is generally what happens when you get into a car crash and the windows break on your face." He saw Mello put down his gun. Assuming he was safe (for the moment) he lowered his weapon as well, but didn't put it away. "I've had worse injuries then this. Chill, why don't ya'?"

"You did WHAT? Car crash?" Mello paused in his search for clean towels and stared at Matt.

Matt pushed back his bangs and gave the blonde a tired smile. "Yeah. Kira had his goonies chasing me to Hell and back so...I took a risk. I'm not dead. That's a plus, right?" He sat down on the bed, eyes still locked on Mello.

Mello was silent, hand still loosely wrapped around the corner of a towel. Kira was definitely closing in on them... But how had they managed to find Matt? No one knew what Matt looked like -- at least, no one on the outside knew Matt's connection to Wammy's House or the Kira case. This was bad. Bad bad bad.

Matt cocked a brow at the blonde. "What? Finally realizing how deep of shit we're in?"

Mello nodded.

Matt's eyes closed and he rubbed at his temples. All of this felt suddenly too real.

Sighing, Mello sunk onto bed next to Matt and handed him the towel. "Here, clean yourself up. There's pain meds in the pocket of my coat."

The redhead furrowed his brow. "Do you always carry drugs on you or is this something new that I missed?" Regardless, he took the towel and wiped at his face.

"I brought them just in case, asshole," Mello grunted. "I somehow got the feeling you'd end up bleeding in some shithole." He waved his hands around, indicating the room. "Guess I was right."

"You always knew how to think on the bright side, Mel." getting up, he tucked his gun back into its holster and grabbed Mello's coat, searching out a few pills and dry-swallowing them.

"Since when did you keep a gun jammed down your ass, Matt?" Mello asked conversationally, watching Matt from the bed.

"Around the same time I realized I wouldn't ever be able to get away from you and all the trouble you cause."

"Hey, you WALKED into the trouble this time. You showed up on MY doorstep," Mello snapped.

Matt shrugged and went over to the single window in the room. He looked through the broken blinds and saw the storm out side. They weren't going anywhere anytime soon.

"You started it."

"Fuck you, ok?" Mello laid back, hand over his face, legs splayed limply over the disgusting mattress.

Matt remained silent. The air between them was tense. The whole damn situation was tense. What more was there to say?

"Why did you kiss Pip?" Mello asked quietly. Finally, the question he had been dying to ask.

The redhead just shrugged. "I don't know. I just...wanted to, I guess." They were back to what had started this whole thing. The Kiss. Matt would be lying if he said he wasn't dreading the conversation.

"She likes you, y'know." Mello pulled his hand away from his face, but kept his gaze trained on the ceiling.

The corners of Matt's mouth turned up into a bitter-sweet smile. "Yeah. I know."

Mello scoffed. The odd, almost love-sick expression on the redhead's face made him want to puke. Or scream. Or both.

"She's cute. She's smart. She should know better," Matt continued.

"Know better than what?"

Matt turned to look at Mello, lying there on the bed. _Bastard,_ he thought to himself, but there wasn't any venom to it. "She should know better then to fall for someone who'll only end up hurting her. I can't seem to learn that lesson, but it's not too late for her."

Mello looked over at him, expression flat. "You think so?"

"Yeah. I do."

Sighing, Mello propped himself up on his elbows. "Would you come over here and cut the crap?"

"It ain't crap," he grumbled, walking over to the bed. He tugged at a piece of Mello's hair and pulled his head back.

Mello looked up at the man, a smirk beginning to form. "Yeah, you're right. _You're_ not crap. You're a dog." In one swift movement, Mello had Matt pinned to the bed, unable to move. "Isn't that right, Inu-chan?"

Matt glared up at the blonde, "It's better to be a dog then a bitch, Mel. And you would know that personally." Smirk.

Mello frowned for a moment or two. "Perhaps I need to train the dog a little better," he said, leaning in to bite Matt's ear.

"When did you become such a kinky whore Mel?" the red head asked, flinching slightly at the pain from the bite.

"ME? You're the one that decided to spend the night in a glorified sex hotel."

"Only because Kira was looking for me and could have had me killed. Or worse, use me so he could kill YOU! Which, for your information, is probably his plan."

Mello sighed. "I've known all along that Kira will one day kill me. It's no big realization for me." The blonde sat up, straddling Matt. "Now are we going to do this or are you going to continue ruining the mood?"

"Oh _I _ruined the mood?! You did that the moment you started calling me a dog." With some effort, the gamer wrenched his arms free and pulled Mello down by the beaded chain around his neck. "How about this -- We both just shut the fuck up. Like I said before, talking too much is a MAJOR turn off." He pulled Mello close and kissed him hard.

Mello returned the kiss, scratching his teeth against Matt's lips and tongue. So now he was a turn-off? Well fuck.

Gradually, a smirk spread over Mello's face; he had an idea.

As the kiss continued, Mello slowly broke away, disguising his true motives behind gently peppered kisses down Matt's body. The blonde watched the other man's flushed face as he drew closer and closer to that sacred place beneath a wall of denim. However, smirk widening, Mello bypassed that area of Matt's body, moving instead to his boots. Long pale fingers began undoing the laces.

Matt watched the blonde fiddle with his boot behind heavily-lidded eyes. _What the fuck is he up to now?_ He wasn't about to say anything about it though. Mel would just take his words and twist them, as usual. As they were finally past wanting to kill each other, Matt didn't want to bring up any buried anger.

Mello managed to get one boot off, and started on the next. "Do you remember that promise you made to me, Matt?"

Matt thought back. His eyes widened as he remembered. "Oh you fucking bastard, you would do that, wouldn't you?!"

Mello snickered. "What do you mean?"

Matt sat up on his elbows and glared down at the blonde. "You know DAMN WELL what I mean, Mel."

Mello smirked. "You should have known better."

Matt continued to glare daggers at the blonde at his feet. He could try his luck and just kick him in the face and be done with it; too bad Mello's gun was out of reach.

As tempting as that sounded, Matt decided against it. Instead he asked, "What the hell are you going to do to my feet? I wasn't aware you had a stomping fetish."

Mello was back on top of Matt in a flash, shoelaces in hand. "Since your memory seems a little hazy from you accident today, I will remind you: You promised me to do whatever I asked, when I asked it. Right?"

"That shouldn't count, I was going through withdrawal. I would have said anything."

Mello shook his head. "It counts. Your vices are not my problem." Smirking, the blonde held Matt's hands over his head, one on each side of the reading lamp hanging above the headboard. In deft, quick movements, Mello tied a perfect sailor's knot around Matt's wrists with the shoelaces. The redhead was stuck there.

Matt's heart was beating an SOS inside of his chest. He didn't say a word. This was fucked up! This was twisted! This was....oddly hot. Wait-WHAT!? The thought of Mello as a dominatrix came unbidden into his mind. He was sure Mello would notice the results of that thought very soon. He could feel his face beginning to heat up.

Mello sniggered as he looked Matt over. "You seem to be heating up, Mail. Does this turn you on?" Mello ran one hand down Matt's chest, eventually going so far as to grip the man's crotch.

Matt tossed his head to the side and bit back a loud moan. Only Mello would do this him. Only Mello COULD do this to him. It was amazing how some things, it seemed, would never change.

"C'mon, Mail, don't keep me in the dark, here," Mello whispered in the man's ear. "Tell me what's going on in that head of yours."

"Piss off. S'not like you'd actually listen anyway. You know what they say about blondes: in one ear and all that bullshit." Matt marveled at his ability to still be a total asshole even while bound.

Mello frowned and tightened his grip on Matt's nether-region. "Never insult the man holding your goods, Matt."

Matt hissed through his teeth. He really needed to learn when to shut up.

...Yeah, like that would happen anytime soon.

"What, exactly do you want me to say, Mel?"

Mello grinned. "I want you to tell me what feels good." The blonde pulled away for a moment, digging in his back pocket for something.

Matt grinned; a little breathless from both the stimulation and the thought of what Mello was going to do to him. This could end good or bad depending on what Matt said next. He chose his words wisely.

"Do you…really want to know, Mel?"

Mello nodded, pausing in his movements.

He took a deep breath, hoping this all turned out okay after he said this. "Everything," he said, his voice a mere whisper.

"Everything?" Mello repeated, eyebrow cocked.

Matt nodded. "If it were anyone else....well...I just don't think it'd be the same. Cause right now, everything you're doing is turning me on." Flattery will get you _everywhere_.

Mello smirked, chuckling, and finally revealed what it was he was looking for in his pocket: a switchblade. "Then you're going to _love_ this."

Matt watched the blonde wave the knife in front of his face. He swallowed hard. What the fuck was he getting himself into?! No. He asked for this. He said yes to this. There was no turning back now. The time for that had passed long ago. Matt closed his eyes and lay back on the bed, prepared for just about anything now.

Before diving in, Mello decided that darkness would better suit this type of...entertainment. A quick flip of the switch, and the already-struggling fluorescent light above was put out of its misery; leaving the two in total darkness, save for the claps of lightning and the roar of thunder.

Mello spun the knife in his hand for a moment, deciding where to start. Well, the clothes would definitely have to go, the blonde finally realized. With great care, Mello slipped the knife beneath Matt's shirt, letting the cool metal graze the redhead's skin, and ripped away the stripped shirt obstructing his view.

Matt made a noise of objection. "Don't go and jack up my clothes. Not unless you want me to walk out of here bare-assed for all of the world to see." The feeling of the metal against his skin made him shiver. It felt...odd. Not bad, just...strange.

"Oh shut up. You have a dozen of these shirts in your suitcase," Mello said, sniggering. He pushed aside the scraps of torn clothing and brought the blade to Matt's chest. "You seem to like this sort of thing, Matt. Tell me; is this one of your fantasies?"

Matt locked eyes with Mello and swallowed hard as he saw that evil glint in his eyes. _Shit_, he thought to himself. There was NO WAY IN HELL this little sexual escapade was going to end with him in one piece. Always one to make a comment, though, Matt gave a breathless laugh and said, "H-how'd ya know?" This was, in its own way, oddly exciting.

Mello shrugged. "Mentally torture a few gangsters, and you learn how to tell these things."

The red head rolled his eyes slightly, "Only you Mello..."

Mello sniggered and moved in closer, grazing his tongue across Matt's neck once more. The knife was momentarily forgotten as Mello busied himself with Matt's pert nipples, which had previously lain so well-hidden behind Matt's goddamn tshirt.

In the back of his mind, Mello knew that this was neither the time nor place for such activities, but with Kira on his tail, time may have been running short. It was this thought that drove Mello to hurriedly yank Matt's pants aside.

The suddenness of it shocked Matt out of the pleasurable haze caused by Mello's mouth. He took a deep, shaky breath, wondering absentmindedly how they had gotten to this point. From pointing guns to sex in less then 15 minutes.

"What was THAT noise for?" Mello said, eyebrow rising. He tossed Matt's jeans aside and moved between the man's legs.

"Huh?" Matt blinked at the blonde, as if not realizing he had vocalized at all.

"You sounded like a water buffalo or something." Mello smirked, chuckling, and ran a smooth hand over Matt's inner thigh. "Did I surprise you?"

The gamer felt himself shiver at the touch. "I-I have no idea what you're talking about," he stammered, turning his head to the side.

Mello laughed softly again. His hand continued venturing further beneath Matt's boxers, teasing him. "Come now, Matt, we've already fucked before; we have no secrets."

"Liar." he said staring at the wall, trying not to moan-well, at least not too loudly. That hand was rather distracting.

Mello scowled and raised the knife. "I'm a liar?" he snarled. He brought the knife lightly against Matt's face, drawing a single line of blood.

"Ah!" Matt hissed; the cut stung some. He was more surprise then anything. He felt some blood drip down his cheek. "What, you're getting mad because I'm telling the truth? There have always been secrets between us. And there always will be."

"Che," Mello scoffed. "I have half a mind to just leave you here."

Matt tugged at his shoelace bondage, forcing his hand to fold up enough to slip through the make-shift cuffs. If he could only just get loose, he could teach Mello a thing or too, but it was imperative that Matt keep Mello's attention trained on him. However, that was easier than he had expected; Mello loved to hear the sound of his own voice.

"If you wanted to leave me then you wouldn't have come after me at all, Mihael." Matt gave a smug smile, watching the blonde grow more frustrated with him.

Mello could indeed feel his blood boil. The goddamn redhead knew exactly which buttons to push, and he was pushing them well. "When I decided to risk my skin, I was under the impression that you would be grateful. You're acting like a child, as always." A squeeze was given to Matt's length as Mello drew himself closer yet again; they were nose-to-nose now.

Matt dug his nails into his palm at the painful pressure being applied. _Almost there,_ he thought wriggling his hands. "Aww, poor little martyr," he repeated, cringing as Mello squeezed harder. "If I'm such a 'child' then why bother, hm?"

Mello scowled. "Dunno. Maybe I was crazy enough to actually give a damn whether or not you were still breathing."

"Huh, that so? So, whenever I express concern for you, it's stupid, but it's totally fine for you to freak out? Nice double standard." _Got it._

Mello rolled his eyes. "At least I can take care of myself. You've always needed me to save your ass."

Matt glared, "I did pretty damn well without you in my life Mello. I was good for a long time...until I went out looking for you. YOU'RE the reason I keep getting into trouble."

Wait for it…

Now!

Matt pulled out of the bonds and grabbed Mello. He quickly switched their roles as he pinned Mello down onto the bed. Grabbing the blondes wrist, he wrapped the shoelaces around them -- tight. That why his hand were free to do...other things.

"I seem to be attracted to danger," the redhead said smoothly. Smirk.

"The fuck! You little bastard, let me out of these things!" Mello thrashed his legs, aiming for whatever bit of Matt he could reach. The fact that he was still wearing his boots made the action all the scarier for Matt's, er, sensitive bits.

Matt rolled off the bed, leaving the blonde kicking and screaming. He pulled off what was left of his poor stripped shirt and tossed it in the trash. Wearing just his boxers, Matt went back to the bed and grabbed a chunk of Mello's hair, tugging hard so that Mello was forced to look up at him. "Not as much fun when you're the one who's stuck, huh?"

The look in Mello's eyes was enough to topple buildings. Matt had never seen the blonde so angry before. "Untie me from this damn bed and MAYBE I'll let you keep your dick."

"What's wrong Mel? Thought you liked bondage," the redhead was forced to snigger. "You seemed happy enough a minute ago."

"Do I SEEM like the submissive type to you, Matt?"

Matt climbed onto the bed and straddled the blonde. "Do I really SEEM like I care?" He ran a hand through Mello's hair and placed a mockingly sweet kiss on his forehead. "You're just going to have to deal with it."

~*~

Light Yagami was used to looking down on people. He did it well and often, such was his ego. But, for the moment, he had the chance to look down on the commander of his personal guard both literally and figuratively. The bumbling idiot had returned to the mansion empty-handed, which was exactly what he had been instructed NOT to do. Therefore, punishment had to be dealt.

"Go on, Akisa-san, write it. Write the name. I can wait all day," the god said, leaning back in his chair and inspecting his fingernails. He looked up at Akisa through the long tendrils of hair that hung in his face and smirked.

His hand shook; he couldn't do this. He couldn't let Kira kill someone he loved. He thought of his wife and his daughter and he dropped the pencil in his hand back onto the desk.

"I-I can't do it Sir. Please-"

Light's eyes narrowed. "You cannot do it?" he repeated.

Akisa trembled at the god's voice. "P-p-please S-sir. I can't l-let them pay for my mistake."

Light leaned forward, placing his long fingers together before him. "I never said I was going to kill them this time. I merely wished to know who you would be willing to injure for your own carelessness. Tell me, Akisa-san, do you expect another failure in the future?"

He shook his head rapidly, not trusting his voice. He would not fail Kira. He would not fail god.

"Good," Light said, hiding a laugh; he suspected the commander was ready to piss himself. "Go back to your team and be sure they are ready for a successful mission tonight. It is your head on the final line, Akisa-san. Have them ready to leave in two hours."

"Y-yes Sir. I can assure you, all will go as planned tonight." He bowed to Light before heading out to ready his team. Tonight was important, nothing could interfere.


End file.
